Apparently the only US taildragger out there, just came up for sale on barnstormers.

ZENITH 701 TAILDRAGGER • $36,000 • AVAILABLE FOR SALE OR TRADE • Only US built 701 taildragger (factory design). 1st flight 2004. Rotax 912ULS, 100hp. Warp Drive prop. Airframe 157 hrs., new engine only 84 hrs (had 80 hp originally). Aeroflash Strobes. Basic VFR instruments. Microair 760 radio BRS system due for repack. Custom Grove main gear. Out of annual & not flown since 08 for personal reasons. Includes all drawings, manuals, and logs. Have to see to appreciate the workmanship. Plane is in excellent condition and could be back in the air really quick. May be interested in trade (up or down) on motorhome or 5th wheel camping trailer w/ tow truck. • Contact Michael A. Sinclair, Owner - located Augusta, KS USA • Telephone: 316-461-2164 . • Posted March 22, 2011

Always wondered if anyone had made a taildragger out of the 701. Already boxy looking but I sort of prefer the taildragger over the tri-gear as far as asthetics goes. But then the 701 will never win any beauty contest.
WW

I think it's horrific as a taildragger. One of the few aircraft that looks better as a trike.

Example:

So, other than being ugly, slow, ugly and out of annual it's a fine airplane?

If you photoshop it with the nose about 24 inches higher and a longer gear to suit, and it's not quite so bad.

But no matter what you do, each and every one of Chris Heintz' airplanes has been hit with the ugly stick once or twice. Hard.

It's a belly-dragger.

Oregon180 wrote:It's a belly-dragger.

Haha that about made me spill my beer

porterjet wrote:So, other than being ugly, slow, ugly and out of annual it's a fine airplane?

Sheesh........you forgot about the high quality lawn mower wheels and brakes.

No offense intended to anyone here who owns and flies one of these very capable birds....But I just wonder if the good folks at Zenith are aware of the (in all likelihood) general consensus of back country pilots who find their design so aesthetically challenged?

"But: don't overlook the requirement that when you go out to the airport and open that hangar door and look at your baby, your heart should go pitter-pat."...

I still stand by this sentiment! And... that plane ain't gonna do it fer me.

Here's for all you taildragger guy(s) and gal(s) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSbaD8u0v58

182 STOL driver wrote:Here's for all you taildragger guy(s) and gal(s) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSbaD8u0v58

I feel bad for those P-51's!!

And here's a better way to post:

Ridge Runner wrote:No offense intended to anyone here who owns and flies one of these very capable birds....But I just wonder if the good folks at Zenith are aware of the (in all likelihood) general consensus of back country pilots who find their design so aesthetically challenged?

It's just as pretty as a Jeep, or a backhoe, or an inflatable boat, or a 55 gallon drum barbecue. For the same reason... function over form. I agree it's a homely little thing, no question. And yes, it does matter for an average sport pilot that the plane looks cute sitting there on the ramp. But for light-duty STOL work on a low budget, that you can pop-rivet together from plans in a grass hut in the Serengeti, and have something relatively safe... nothing comes close that I know of. It's brilliance lies not in appearance but in the fact that over a thousand of them have been built, in many cases by bumbling idiots in third world boondocks, and they all fly with some degree of safety. It will not do the work of a PA-18 or a C-180, but you can build a 701 and fill the tanks for a thousand hours of flying for what a working Cub or 180 would cost to buy - and operate at any Super Cub strip in the process.

All that being said, it is indeed a homely-ass farm implement!

EZFlap wrote:It's brilliance lies not in appearance but in the fact that over a thousand of them have been built, in many cases by bumbling idiots in third world boondocks, and they all fly with some degree of safety.

Say! I resemble that remark!

Ugly? Chris Hienz, I believe, once said his planes were designed with an ax. Aesthetics wasn't the primary design criteria.

The taildragger configuration would definitely make it a better ski plane.

My eyes!!!! They are burning!

soggyc wrote:My eyes!!!! They are burning!

What has been seen...
cannot be unseen!

A typical pilot. In apparent conflict with his own surprise, he fills his diaper, expresses shock and disgust but still manages to drool over the 701.

Homely-ass farm implements, get yours here...http://www.agcocorpdealers.com/HARRYIMPLEMENT/