Zenith CH 650
Piston single engine • Low Wing • Fixed gear
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Payload vs. Range
Configure weights
Default: 190 lbs
Default: 30 lbs
Fuel on board
Extra weight
Range
Mission Profile
About the Zenith CH 650
Overview
The Zenith CH 650 is a two-seat, low-wing sport aircraft from Zenith Aircraft Company of Mexico, Missouri, the current development of the Chris Heintz Zodiac design. It is sold as an experimental amateur-built kit, and in standard light configuration it meets the FAA definition of a light-sport aircraft. Zenith publishes performance for three engines; this record carries the 100-hp Rotax 912ULS, the most common modern installation.
Where the STOL CH 701 and CH 750 trade speed for short-field work, the CH 650 is the cross-country member of the family. A slippery low-wing airframe on fixed tricycle gear cruises around 116 knots on the Rotax, faster still at altitude, on roughly five gallons an hour of auto fuel.
Key Features for GA Buyers
- A real cross-country two-seater. A 116-knot cruise on about 4.6 gph of mogas makes the CH 650 an efficient traveler rather than just a local-area airplane.
- Auto-fuel economy. The Rotax 912ULS runs on premium auto gas, which holds direct operating cost near $35 an hour all-in.
- Sport-pilot eligible when built light. A clean stall around 44 knots sits inside both the MOSAIC 59-knot gate and the older 45-knot light-sport limit, provided the airframe is kept light enough to hold the light-sport gross.
- Owner-built and owner-maintained, with the repairman certificate and condition-inspection privileges that come with an experimental amateur-built aircraft.
Trade-offs
- Light-sport eligibility is conditional on weight. At a heavier build, or with the larger Jabiru or Lycoming engines, the clean stall and gross can exceed the light-sport limits; confirm the specific aircraft’s empty weight and stall speed.
- You build it, or buy one someone else built. A kit is hundreds of hours of work, and a used example carries its builder’s workmanship, which a pre-buy inspection has to establish.
- Two seats and modest payload. A full-fuel cabin load is one or two adults and light bags, not a family hauler.
- Experimental, not certified, with the operating and insurance profile that category carries.
See Also
- Zenith STOL CH 750 – the high-wing STOL sibling in the same family, for a buyer who wants short-field ability over cross-country speed. Compare
- Tecnam P2002 – a factory-built low-wing light-sport two-seater, for a buyer weighing a kit against a finished airplane. Compare
- Pipistrel Alpha Trainer – a modern factory light-sport two-seater on the same Rotax power. Compare
Technical Specifications
Dimensions & Weights
- Height
- Source: manufacturer figure 6.5 ft
- Length
- Source: manufacturer figure 20.0 ft
- Parking area (ft2)
- 925.0 ft2
- Max Takeoff Weight
- Source: manufacturer figure 1,320 lbs
- Useful Load
- Source: manufacturer figure 630 lbs
- Fuel Capacity
- Source: manufacturer figure 24 gal
Performance
- Cruise Speed
- Source: manufacturer figure 116 KTAS
- Never-Exceed (Vne)
- Source: manufacturer figure 139 KIAS
- Approach Speed
- 58 KIAS
- Stall, Clean (Vs1)
- Source: manufacturer figure 44 KIAS
- Range
- Source: manufacturer figure 537 NM
- Rate of Climb
- 900 fpm
Sources
Where the figures on this page come from. Zenith CH 650 specifications are traced to published references; estimated values are flagged inline next to the figure.
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