I flew into the Western Zenith Open House at Cloverdale, CA this weekend. I got in line for a demo flight in the factories 701 with a 912 for power. We lined up on the runway and pulled the stick all the way back. As soon as he touched the power the nose came off the ground. We left the ground 50 ft later. Did some slow flight with two of us in there and 30-35IAS was a breeze. I saw 22 sustained on the ground speed. It also cruised pretty easily at 100. The stick was really light and it was pretty simple to fly. Pretty sweet plane that will get into and out of anyplace. You could build a nicely equipped one in 600 hours for under 40K.

Yes but what about the crowds when you arrive at said anyplace in a 701? Do they not point and stare?

(it does break the mold for "looks right, flys right"

LOL...Yep, I'm in agreement with BRD. I went to the factory and was seriously thinking of building one many years ago due to their STOL characteristics. But I couldn't get past their "ugliness. they are one weird looking plane but they do perform nicely. Also, when I was at the factory (I had called ahead of time) I was treated like I wasn't even their. I figured if they were that bad when I was looking to purchase they would have been hel to deal with if I ever had a problem. Saying that I have never heard much bad about them....just my personal experience.
WW

Ok. That was uncalled for.... . I do agree they are not the best lookin thing out there.


Ben.
N801BH. yup. its the big brother of the 701..

I agree with WWWHUNTER. The only thing uglier than a 701 is a Wilga !!!!

doesn't a highlander perform just as well, have real spars, and not look like it fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down?
I looked at one and when I saw how flimsy the spars were I decided id stay on the ground if that were the only aircraft in the world!

Man, you guys are mean. I like the looks of the 701. They remind me of some industrial / military machine. As far as strength is concerned the wing is good for +6 / -4 g load. There are no reports on the NTSB of any wing failures. In fact, there are 27 entries and the only fatality is a guy buzzing his house who dragged his wing tip and cartwheeled the plane.

tom

I have a real soft spot for them. They're kinda cool looking.

John,
Hey my friend...I guess we are in disagreement on the Wilga. Well, maybe not...they are ugly too but I would love to have one. Those things are built like tanks. Actually I nearly traded for one last summer but talked myself out of it.

Currie,
If I weren't TRYING to build a Murphy Rebel I would seriously be looking at the Just Highlander. I went to the factory in SC last summer and they had to be some of the nicest people I have met in the kitplane manufacturing industry I have met in a long time. They were great at answering any question and let me wander around their facilities at my leasure and told me to take my time and were willing to take me for a demo if I wanted to come back the next day. (Their pilot was gone for the day).

WW

Hey, I have a friend with a Wilga here in Ohio that could be bought for around 20G's, I think???

My EAA chapter is building a 701. They really aren't too bad looking if you have the Jabiru 3300 engine with new cowling and know how to paint them.

Yeah, okay, but what's with the wheel hanging under the cowl instead of where it's supposed to be at the rear end?

bumper

bumper wrote:Yeah, okay, but what's with the wheel hanging under the cowl instead of where it's supposed to be at the rear end?

bumper

Uhhhh....you got me there!

Skystrider wrote:My EAA chapter is building a 701. They really aren't too bad looking if you have the Jabiru 3300 engine with new cowling and know how to paint them.

and the camera is at right angle too, right?!?

TrevDog wrote:

Skystrider wrote:My EAA chapter is building a 701. They really aren't too bad looking if you have the Jabiru 3300 engine with new cowling and know how to paint them.

and the camera is at right angle too, right?!?

First it was the wheel on the wrong end, then it is the camera angle. Next somebody is going to ask if I used Photoshop!

TrevDog wrote:
and the camera is at right angle too, right?!?

Hideous at any angle .

I shared WWHunter's experience when I visited the factory and in dealing with them once I had purchased the tail kit. I made numerous calls to the factory about ambiguity in the plans, questions about construction, etc. When I was finally able to get ahold of someone, he seemed genuinely disinterested in helping, and seemed in a hurry to get rid of me. I mentioned it before, but when I switched to a Rock Mountain Wings kit, I had the opposite experience with customer service, it couldn't be better.
I had read that Zenith at one time had fantastic customer support, but they seem to have outgrown their customer service department...

WWhunter wrote:John,
Hey my friend...I guess we are in disagreement on the Wilga. Well, maybe not...they are ugly too but I would love to have one. Those things are built like tanks. Actually I nearly traded for one last summer but talked myself out of it.

Currie,
If I weren't TRYING to build a Murphy Rebel I would seriously be looking at the Just Highlander. I went to the factory in SC last summer and they had to be some of the nicest people I have met in the kitplane manufacturing industry I have met in a long time. They were great at answering any question and let me wander around their facilities at my leasure and told me to take my time and were willing to take me for a demo if I wanted to come back the next day. (Their pilot was gone for the day).

WW

I think the new Wilga 2000 is one of the best looking planes built. Good thing too, cause mine just got delivered this morning

If I can figure out why my pic won't upload, I'll post it.

Edit: At least I figured out how to post it to my avatar.

It's been done a few times, it seems, but it still doesn't look quite "right". Loved the way their demo bird flew, though. Got over
the looks real quick.
I was working on an 801, but I didn't have the time or money to complete it, so I sold what I had, except for the rudder, which is
hanging in the garage.

On that photo, draw a straight line between the mains & the tailwheel to visualize how that 701 looks on the ground: hmmm.... a real low-rider, with an extreme nose-in-the-air attitude to boot.
I believe there is an off-shoot (for lack of a better word) of the 701 called the Pegazair, and I think they put them on t/w gear. Never seen one though. Visually, the Savannah also ap[pears to be an off-shoot of the 701, with VG's instead of slotted leading edges. Don't know if they put them on t/w gear or not. A guy at our local airport has one & it seems to peform well. I would think the slots would be better for STOL but worse for cruise than the VG's. Savannah Tom, what's your take on that?

Eric