The Zenith STOL CH 701: kit-build aircraft for actual pilots
Zenith Aircraft Company has been selling kits for the STOL CH 701 since 1986. It's a two-seater bush plane that takes off and lands in 500 feet, cruises around 90 knots, and is forgiving enough that amateur builders complete more of them than any other aircraft kit on the market. Here's what nobody tells you before you start.
What the CH 701 actually is
Chris Heintz designed it for off-airport flying. Short fields, rough strips, dirt tracks in the bush. The fixed leading-edge slats keep the wing flying at speeds that would stall a conventional design. Stall speed is around 30 knots. Cruise around 90. Top speed maybe 100-120 depending on engine choice.
It's not fast. It's not pretty in a Cirrus way. What it is, is honest. It does one job (operate from places that aren't airports) and does it without drama.
The CH 750 is the bigger sibling. Same idea, bigger wings, slightly faster, more cargo. If you're between the two, the 750 is usually the right call unless weight savings matter for performance.
The engine question
The most common pairings: Continental O-200 (100 HP), Lycoming O-235 or O-320 (~115-150 HP), and the newer Rotax 912 series (~100 HP). Each has a constituency that will tell you the others are wrong.
Continental and Lycoming are the traditional choice. Heavy, reliable, simple, expensive to overhaul. Most flight schools train you on them. Spare parts everywhere.
Rotax 912 is lighter, more fuel-efficient, runs on auto gas. Smaller maintenance footprint. Some builders swear by it. Some old-schoolers still won't touch a Rotax. Both camps are defensible.
What I'd actually buy: the Rotax 912 ULS for new builds. The fuel savings over a 1,000-hour lifecycle exceed the price gap.
Cost of the build, honestly
Kit price varies but figure $25-30K for the basic airframe kit. Engine adds $30-45K depending on which you pick. Avionics, paint, interior, instruments — another $15-25K. Hangar time, tools, and the kit-builder's premium of fixing mistakes — call it 1,500-2,500 hours over 2-4 years.
Total realistic cost to fly: $80-120K and 2,000 hours of your life. The kit-builder forums are full of people who underestimated either the money or the time. Usually both.
Tools worth buying before you start
A Cleco fastener kit (200+ pieces). These temporary fasteners hold sheet metal in place while you rivet. You'll never have enough. Buy more than you think.
A pneumatic rivet gun and bucking bar set. The hand-squeezer versions work for the small rivets but a CH 701 has thousands of rivets and your forearm will give out.
A drill press. The Harbor Freight benchtop one ($150-200) is plenty for kit-build work. You need one. Hand-drilling holes accurately for rivets through aluminum sheet is a recipe for frustration.
A decent digital caliper. £30 for a Mitutoyo or equivalent. The cheap plastic ones drift; you're measuring tolerances tight enough that drift matters.
Books and references
Zenith's own build manuals are excellent but the supplementary reading helps. Tony Bingelis's sportplane construction books are the standard texts for amateur builders. Buy them used; they were published in the 80s and haven't aged badly.
The EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) membership is worth the $50/year. Their tech advisors will look at your work for free at fly-ins, and the magazine pays for itself with a single useful article.
Who actually flies one
Bush pilots in Alaska, Canada, and Africa. Hobbyists who want to land on their own grass strip. People who specifically want to operate from places with 500-foot landing zones. Some glider tow operators. Some surveyors.
Who shouldn't bother: anyone whose main mission is cross-country travel (you'd be faster in a used Cessna 172 you didn't have to build), anyone who only wants a flight-school trainer (different kit), and anyone who doesn't actually want to build for two years.
The competition, briefly
RANS S-21 Outbound and Just Aircraft Highlander are the main rivals in the same kit-built STOL niche. Both are good. RANS is slightly heavier, slightly slower, slightly more forgiving on landing. Just Aircraft is more performance-focused. CH 701 sits in the middle.
If you want a turn-key alternative without building, the certified Cessna 180/185 used market starts around $90K but you get a fully assembled aircraft. Different proposition entirely.
The real reason to build one
Most kit builders will tell you the same thing: you don't build a CH 701 because it's the most economical way to own a plane. You build it because you want to know your aircraft to the bolt. Every flight after first flight is more meaningful because you put every fastener in yourself.
The plane is fine. The build is the point. Know that before you write the deposit check.
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