That could have been fun!😂

Hello! My o-200 has been a very reliable engine so far. 300hours on the engine so far and all oil analysis, bore scopes, and compression checks have been normal. I plan for 85mph TAS at 3000' with 6.3gph fuel flow. I see 500ft/min climb at 1440lbs on 75F days. It is on the heavier side for the ch750, and if raw STOL performance is needed then a lighter engine would certainly help. Overall I really like my o-200, but I've heard good things about the 912 too, great little engine with good aftermarket support. Good luck with your scratch build! I sure miss building, maybe I should start another!

Thanks! I’m sold now. I’ll get an o-200 built with high compression pistons and a port and polish and a Vetterman exhaust and hopefully that will give it that extra bit of horsepower. How many hours did it take to build your 750? I’m a few years in. I did a lot in the first year and then once my son was born, I haven’t done much in the last 3 but I’ve gotten all motivated to get it done.

A high compression setup will help, adding electronic ignition of some kind can help a bit too. Check out "Don's Dream Machines" they do a fair amount of work on o-200's to squeeze a bit more power from them. I plan to change out one of my bendix mags for a surefly e-mag at some point in the future, will loose a few pounds and gain easier cold starting. It took me 7 years to plans build my 750, didn't track the time closely but probably around 2000 hours. Zenith support was great for some of the more difficult parts, like the main gear, and the steel welded parts. I bought the doors and windshield from them too, being so close to finishing I didn't mind spending some money to cross the finish line. In hindsight I'm pretty sure I could have made some flat aluminum doors that were lighter, but I really love the visibility of the bubble doors! Good luck with your project! Enjoy every minute of it, you'll miss it someday, even though you'll have a flying plane the "build bug" never really leaves you. All the best to you sir!

Yep, Just the two baja designs S1 lights on the bottom. The aeroled wingtip nav lights throw quite a bit of light, too! It's amazing those little single LED lights can make so much light, they only draw about 1.5Amps each. I'm very happy with the S1's so far.

thanks for the reply.

Hi Chen! No AC but it does have effective window vents for summer operation, and a heater that allows for comfortable flights at 15F outside temp.

Hello! 701 is a great little aircraft, I would have built one except for the fact I could not physically fit in it. Takeoff performance is great on relatively economical powerplants. Good luck with your decision and hope to see you at one of the Zenith events this year!

Thank you very much! Wishing you good luck with your first flight, all the hard work will be worth it. Fly safe!

Any time! You know where my hangar is!

Hello Ivan! Unfortunately I did not use any CNC equipment, I can certainly see where it could save some time making form blocks and blanks. I found that making the parts took less time than I expected, I spent most of the build time deburring parts, and laying out rivet lines. I love flying my plane, but I really miss the building process! Maybe I need to build a cnc router for my next project! If you have the skill and patients to make a cnc router, you'll have no problems completing an airplane! Thanks for the positive comments and good luck on your project!

I still have to purchase the plans from Zenith. I'm attracted to the CH750 Cruzer but have considered the CH650 also. Were the plans detailed enough or did it require significant support from the vendor to fill in missing information?

Hello Ivan, The plans are quite complete, only a few minor omissions that in hindsight I could have probably thought through myself, however my own manufacturing tolerances sometimes drove minor changes and adjustments for a good fit. Basically you just have to make the parts fit together while making sure not to violate the tolerances in Zenith construction standards manual. Most tolerances are quite generous, so don't worry too much about absolute precision, after all you are making a light two seat aircraft that cruises at 85mph not an F35 :) Just be sure to think a few steps ahead, fabricate the parts to fit, and everything will work out fine. Take your time and test fit parts before drilling. If you make a mistake, it is likely fixable ( allowed in the construction standards) with shims, additional fasteners, or remaking a simple part. Also, fabricate and assemble one assembly at a time. Start with the rudder and complete it before moving to the next assembly. You'll learn a lot about fabrication and what details are important, your next assemblies will be better as a result. The Cruzer is a great little airplane, with the right engine it will take off shorter than my STOL! If it were available when I started my project, I would have had a hard decision to make. I'm still quite happy with the STOL version as it is incredibly docile and forgiving, won't drop a wing, no stall but the sink rate is quite incredible! For most uses the cruzer checks all the important boxes, it's a great recreational flier. I really like the looks of the 650, a tail dragger with a split rear sliding canopy would look super cool! I sat in the factory demo plane a number of times, in 15 years I'd doubt my ability to safely get into and out of it. The 750 platform is easy to get into, I can "age into" this plane without worrying about mobility for a few more years.

Here is a quick video Zenith made about my project. I flew to Mexico Missouri last year (actually flew there twice) during "Oshkosh Week". kzbin.info/www/bejne/oomzqZhuZ9eforc

@@clintgosch2306 Thank you for your helpful info. Your remarks about aging into or with, in my case clinch the decision for me. Regarding the cnc, I built the Lowrider2 that can be found on V1engineering.com. With your background the cnc would be a simple project for you. I had many learning challenges to overcome, but had fun doing it. Still learning and perfecting it to make it more rigid and more accurate. It should manage wood and aluminum parts quite accurately.

Hi Scott, Yes sir! Still flying it. 92 hours on the plane so far. Testing revealed no major issues, just some engine cooling tweaks along the way. And also a fuel system mod to allow more reliable gravity feed fuel flow. The aircraft handles well across it's CG and weight range, but seems to require just a bit more rudder the further aft the CG gets. Despite what quite a few people say, the o-200 is adequate for this airframe, more power is always nice, and if you fly out of a short strip with obstructions you should consider more power. But, if you can live with 500fpm climbs at gross weight, and 80mph cruise 3000' at 70% power (5.2gph) then the o200 will work fine, I've been into a 2000' strip so far and was totally comfortable, I'm off the ground in about 300' at gross on a warm day, my shortest landing so far has been 600' but the aircraft can do better, the pilot likes to have a bit more airspeed on final. I can cruise at 94mph but it really starts guzzling fuel. I might consider upgrading someday, but I'm enjoying the simple maintenance of the o200. Took a short x-country trip last weekend, flew along the Iowa River for a bit at 1200' agl, was an absolute blast! You really can't beat the visibility in this airplane!

Awesome! Did you polish or go with vinyl covering? Are you out of CR?

Still considering polish, but not looking forward to the labor and mess involved. Vinyl seems to be a decent option, but holding off for awhile to just enjoy flying. Yes, flying out of KCID, they have some great controllers that accommodate a wide variety of aircraft.

Hi John, Sorry for the delay in my response. Feel free to contact me at. Wingsgosch at gmail dot com

Hi Carrie! I remember that day! Always fun to take people on their first airplane ride!

Yes sir. Built a few balsa models, but this was my first experience building with aluminum.

8600'. It sure was a nice feeling on my first flight knowing I had almost 2 minutes of runway under me!

Hi Joe, Thanks for the positive comments! I really don't have a good reason for omitting the windows, I might choose to put them in later. The visibility is still excellent without them. There might be a slight cost savings by plans building, if you really like building stuff plans building is a fantastic project, discouraging sometimes, but most of the time very fun and exciting. There is still plenty of challenge in building a kit, and I think it would be just as rewarding. I have not totaled all my costs yet, but I'd be surprised if I saved more than a few thousand dollars.