Zenair CH-701 Videos
We’ve posted a set of five videos showing the fun qualities of the Zenair CH-701 STOL aircraft. In this case, we are flying a kit-built CH-701 with Zenair 950 Amphibious Floats and the 80hp Rotax engine. We have since upgraded the engine to the 100hp Rotax 912S and performance is even more impressive. The videos demonstrate normal land takeoff, normal land landing, pilot’s eye view of a water landing, ‘hover’, and STOL takeoff and landing. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all 5 videos.
Normal Land Takeoff
Other than caring a little power into the flair to account for the high-drag configuration of fixed slats, landings are conventional.
Watch closely and you’ll see that it rolls about the length of 2 runway lights or ~400ft to liftoff
Normal Land Landing
Water Landing Approach and Touchdown
Water landing from final to touchdown.
‘Hover’
The CH-701 power-on stall speed is only 27mph! It is comfortably flown at 40mph with 1/2 flaps and trim. Given a nice winter westerly over the midwest, you can literally stop the 701 for a while by balancing the wind vs the airspeed. Watch the road between the wings struts and you can see our groundspeed is essentially zero. On days like this, it’s a good idea to fly to an upwind practice area so the trip home is the faster leg.
STOL Performance
Our last video shows the full STOL performance of the CH-701 with a sub 400′ takeoff and landing roll. We also include a fly-by which shows the unique nosewheel retraction on this tri-gear float plane.