Chris Heintz, best known in aviation circles as a prolific aircraft designer, aeronautical engineer, innovator, builder, entrepreneur, lecturer and author, died April 30, 2021, at his home in Southern France. He was 82.
Heintz started Zenair out of his two-car garage in Midland, Ontario, Canada, in 1974, manufacturing Zenith kits himself.
Over the years, he introduced more than 12 kit aircraft designs. In 1992, Heintz licensed the kit manufacturing and marketing rights to Zenith Aircraft Company for the STOL CH 701 and the ZODIAC CH 601 designs, and developed the STOL CH 801 and the new ZODIAC XL for Zenith Aircraft Company.
Heintz, who was inducted into the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Homebuilders Hall of Fame in 1999, is survived by Annemarie, his wife of 60 years, five children, and a dozen grandchildren.
“As per his wishes, funeral arrangements will be kept simple and private,” a post on Zenith Air’s Facebook page states.