Zenith STOL CH 701
Piston single engine • High Wing • Fixed gear
Range Visualization
Origin: · click map to move · nm at current load
Payload vs. Range
Configure weights
Default: 190 lbs
Default: 30 lbs
Fuel on board
Extra weight
Range
Mission Profile
About the Zenith STOL CH 701
Overview
The Zenith STOL CH 701 is the original Chris Heintz short-takeoff-and-landing design, a two-seat, high-wing kit aircraft from Zenith Aircraft Company of Mexico, Missouri. First flown in 1986, it established the Zenith STOL line and remains in production as an experimental amateur-built kit that meets the FAA light-sport definition. Zenith publishes performance for the 80-hp and 100-hp Rotax 912; this record carries the 100-hp Rotax 912S.
The 701 is an extreme short-field airplane. Fixed leading-edge slats, full-span flaperons, and a light 1,100-lb gross give it a takeoff roll near 50 feet and a stall around 24 knots. It cruises slowly, near 74 knots, and is built to land almost anywhere rather than to travel.
Key Features for GA Buyers
- Extreme short-field capability. A takeoff roll near 50 feet and a stall near 24 knots put the 701 into terrain most aircraft cannot use.
- Auto-fuel economy on the Rotax 912, holding direct operating cost near $35 an hour all-in.
- Sport-pilot eligible. The 24-knot clean stall is far inside both the MOSAIC 59-knot gate and the older light-sport limits.
- Owner-built and owner-maintained, with the repairman certificate and condition-inspection privileges of an experimental amateur-built aircraft.
Trade-offs
- It is genuinely slow. A 74-knot cruise makes the 701 a local and back-country airplane; cross-country travel is a patient business.
- Small and light. A 1,100-lb gross and 520-lb useful load carry two people and little else, and the airframe is worked hard by wind.
- You build it, or buy one someone else built, with the workmanship and pre-buy caveats that carries.
- Experimental, not certified, with the operating and insurance profile of that category.
See Also
- Zenith STOL CH 750 – the larger, more capable STOL in the same family, for a builder who wants more payload and engine range. Compare
- Zenith CH 650 – the low-wing cross-country sibling, for a buyer who wants speed over short-field ability. Compare
- Cessna 150 – the classic certified two-seat trainer, for a buyer comparing a kit against a standard-airworthiness airplane. Compare
Technical Specifications
Dimensions & Weights
- Height
- Source: manufacturer figure 8.58 ft
- Length
- Source: manufacturer figure 20.92 ft
- Parking area (ft2)
- 959.04 ft2
- Max Takeoff Weight
- Source: manufacturer figure 1,100 lbs
- Useful Load
- Source: manufacturer figure 520 lbs
- Fuel Capacity
- Source: manufacturer figure 20 gal
Performance
- Cruise Speed
- Source: manufacturer figure 74 KTAS
- Never-Exceed (Vne)
- Source: manufacturer figure 96 KIAS
- Approach Speed
- Estimated — derived, not a published figure 32 KIAS
- Stall, Clean (Vs1)
- Source: manufacturer figure 24 KIAS
- Range
- Source: manufacturer figure 304 NM
- Rate of Climb
- 1200 fpm
Sources
Where the figures on this page come from. Zenith STOL CH 701 specifications are traced to published references; estimated values are flagged inline next to the figure.
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