Retractable Gear Zenith CH 650 light sport aircraft

Zenith CH 650 RG (retractable landing gear) custom-built by Pedro Luengo, powered by a 100-hp Rotax 912 ULS engine with a DUC ground-adjustable three-blade propeller, and custom dual yoke controls.

[@nickadams9841]

Nicely engineered, makes the CH650 look pretty sleek in flight........

[@garyhinkle4917]

I've been in aviation over 50 years. Corp,cargo, charter pilot, A&P. Grew up with experimental aircraft. This guy did an excellent job. Very clear he knows his stuff. My hat off to you Sir.

[@MrPILOTSTEVE59]

I love the throttle quadrant on this plane. Trim is very cool. The plane is so stable at high speeds.

[@harrymoto6951]

That really opens up the zeniths potential, while making it amazingly beautiful in flight. Bravo, sir, bravo!

[@spikekavalench]

That’s a lot of relays. Beautiful engineering. Hats off to the builders.

[@segeler]

Well done! We fly an Z602RG, it is based on the same construktion. Nice Flights!

[@klesmer]

Zenith should make that an option.

[@rottenrick1969]

Awesome 650 you have made. I love it.

[@TomGarner99]

Wow! Nice work Pedro!

[@raykrv6a]

Very nice. Love the detail.

[@faainspector9699]

Outstanding workmanship Sir...........truly excellent engineering..

[@Progneto]

Very nice build!!!

[@timthepilot-c4]

Beautiful and innovative!

[@thewrenchreviews9986]

Ok, that is just incredibly cool!

[@SuperYellowsubmarin]

Slick. Love the controls !

[@jesseroybal1]

I got so excited when this popped up I'm my notifications. I hope to be building a Ch650B this winter. I thought Zenith was unvailing this at Oshkosh and going to offer this as an option.

[@twistedhippie7608]

The factory should offer some of these mods! Nice work Sir!

[@Jimmythekid007]

This is a Nice Plane, with speed !

[@skycop56]

Cool airplane, don’t need the music.

[@brent1041]

Cool custom ch650

[@scratchbuilder5952]

Wow… superb plane

[@albertogarciaarango2411]

Fantastic and beautyful

[@bassface84]

AWESOME...

[@JDK73772]

Any thoughts on making this a factory option? Would take her to a whole new level.

[@izzetguntalaz]

Harika !!

[@brianmorrison1344]

That is one of the most AWESOME cockpits I've seen. well done!!.. Where did you get the controls? ..

[@DreadnautVS]

Wow...

[@phatvu3811]

Am I wrong to think this airplane also has a BRS system as well. Look at the video at 9:26 mark. There are attachment running from the top of the aft cockpit to the wing spar/fuse section.

[@stevegarrett9533]

Where did you get the taxiway markings shown at the end of video?

[@GSNCLN]

Looks heavy

[@rock3tcatU233]

How much added range can you get with a RG?

[@apfelsnutz]

This video is worth watching for the music choice alone....

[@PlateletRichGel]

how much gas does RG usually save and how much increase in speed for same throttle, just curious generally, about 15% more speed and 20% fuel economy? just my guess

[@Mike-01234]

Adjustable prop control is what Light sport needs even if it's automated with airspeed would really improve performance. Retracts are nice until they fail.

[@randomstuff8257]

There's a Zenith (601HDS, IIRC) in Central FL with a variable-pitch prop. He always used reverse thrust to back into his parking spot at pancake breakfasts! Lol

[@marcusfalconieri4576]

Beauitiful

[@randywinner111]

The forethought and engineering for everything is a 10 except for one thing. What is the hardware you are utilising to get gear up and down? At times it looks hydraulic with a bad "sequencer valve" (absence of smooth actuation) or weak electric hydraulic pump, and has anyone experimented with the new high end electric ecentric rams for drives for gear? Very nice though.

[@garyhinkle4917]

Don't forget guys, light sport has different meanings in different countries. Weight, number of passengers, engine horsepower all have different limits in other nations.

[@tn_bob5740]

Spain follows EASA rules, 600 kg (1322 lbs) gross weight, max two passengers, non-turbine engine, 45 knot stall in landing configuration, and non-pressurized cabin. There is no speed limitation as there is in the US. www.easa.europa.eu/faq/19386 I'd still like to know how much this one weighs.

[@markhathaway9456]

I've just recently begun to watch Zenith CH 6xx videos. This is a really nice one. I wondered about the low hp and added weight of the RG, but the performance looked good. The glass panel looks quite nice. The switches are good, but the power handle always stands out as awkward. Too tall and the pilot has to reach over it for dials/switches/knobs in front of it. The RG isn't terribly smooth, but the dash lights set-up is good. Another thing that stands out is where the fuselage meets the tail. That could be better. Though it may be no problem, I always wonder, in this day of man-made materials, if the old-fashioned flat-bottom fuselage is best. Is it aerodynamically very good? I didn't mind the music since there wasn't human speech.

[@rjbishop12]

I imagine this has an empty weight approaching 1000 lbs. Wonder what the certified gross weight is? In the EU, most LSAs are also limited to 1320 lbs.

[@damage6316]

What was the gain in speed?

[@stevefreeman8700]

What is the EMPTY WEIGHT on this aircraft?

[@pelitox]

410Kg

[@jimnycricket2322]

What yoke and throttle is that?!?!

[@davidlewis9572]

How much weight difference, retractable? Performance difference?

[@EfeCemElci]

In the builders group, during the build phase (4 years ago) Pietro wrote "The weight will not rise from 30 pounds to higher with the entire landing gear retractable. That includes the hydraulic pump. Another 8 pounds of controls."

[@TigercatDesigns]

Nice, but I hesitate to ask: what's the empty weight?

[@crazypeoplearoundtheworld304]

Like the plane. Hate the music. But at least there's mute, right?

[@falcon4strokeflyer]

I love this plane, but I thought only seaplanes could have retractable gear in the Light Sport class.

[@CM97093]

Isnt EC Spain? Do they have the same rules in Spain as the US?

[@falcon4strokeflyer]

Cody Messer I didn’t notice at first. Different rules for sure.

[@JohnMGreiner]

It can still be experimental amateur built and be over 1320 lbs gross weight but it can’t be flown in the sport category in the US , he would need a full PPL to fly if the airworthiness shows the max gross over 1320. You can get a light sport kit but build it outside the sport weight as long as your good no one being able to ever fly it under sport class rules. Another example, you can’t fly at night with a sport class license so why pay for all the expensive nav lights, well if you have a private pilots license you can fly a sport class plane at night and even if IFR conditions. So the privledges and restrictions are often a combination of pilot certification and the aircrafts registered gross weight and equipment. If he were to go with the DUC in flight adjustable pitch prop, this plane would also require a complex rated pilot, which I bet few sport pilots would have.

[@mauriceevans6546]

@@JohnMGreiner well! You can fly till 30 minutes past sunset, so the lights might not be a bad idea

[@midclasdude]

music?

[@timcastens1150]

Would have rather had explanations instead of the music

[@flytheillawarra8652]

Moi bien

[@apfelsnutz]

220kph = 142 mph...! All this on 100 hp ?

[@williamgreen4757]

Proportioning valve will drop your gear at the same rate.

[@CalicoWoodworking]

I would be worried about the low VNE of this aircraft at altitude. 124 knots down low, i would imagine up high that 140 knot VNE wouldn't be that hard to exceed.

[@daryldrennan]

Nice work on the retractable landing gear, the CH650 has a need for speed. Could you please tell me the name of the saxophone song at the beginning of you video please, it goes great with the video, cool music for a cool airplane, thank you.

[@markdoan1472]

Good music ...few Utubers get the tracks right ... If your going wall to wall music with no dialogue it should be something like this , what you have done , Its astonishingly un irritating ... Of course the plane is cool as hell .. I know only too well the effort and engineering that went in to that

[@jeffreydurante662]

Retractable gear and light sport aircraft don’t exactly go hand in hand

[@Rif_Leman]

Perhaps the politicians in SPAIN, where this a/c is registered, don't have their heads up their asses in regard to such things.

[@randallsemrau7845]

@@Rif_Leman Nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with the LSA mission, which is to provide a relatively low cost, simple platform for particular experience levels and pocketbooks. Your vehement anti - American hatred has obviously turned your brain to mush..

[@GriffDawg94]

Retraction time is painful lol

[@zorbalight3933]

Really? Compared to what other AC in this category?

[@GriffDawg94]

Zorba Light Slow.

[@FarmerTed]

Look at old 210 or 182rg it’s about the same

[@GriffDawg94]

phegley3 40 year old planes

[@FarmerTed]

Who cares as long as it happens every time, now That’s important! I’m just impressed he came up with this. I guess I’m seeing glass half full and you see it as empty, but I’m sure you could have done better lol

[@fermoer3814]

If it wasn’t for the music, I might have finished watching this....

[@ikay2102]

Same here Ferdi

[@lardyify]

Ferdi Koekemoer me too. Gave up after 3:27.

[@zihrgotti]

I had no problem with it. Could also just use your volume control....just a tip.

[@carlmccall7198]

Loved the music

[@charrison3419]

Awesome, please do a video on the control yorks I so much would like to do that in mine

[@joolkano]

It looks 100% better with RG! The Zenith CH 650 looks ugly with its chicken legs.

[@Rico11b]

This would have been the perfect airplane, but the pilot sits to far aft of the leading edge. If the pilot and passenger sat in front of the wing it would have been perfect.

[@TheOwenMajor]

You do know you have to worry about something called center of mass with aircraft right?

[@Rico11b]

@@TheOwenMajor Yep I know it. I'm a pilot so I'd better know it. Else I could end up a spot on the ground some place. Weight & Balance can be worked out to achieve what I was saying. Designers are to just to lazy to resolve the issue, because it's just easier to opt for the easy way of copying previous designs with slight modifications. It's tried and true to have the humans sit on the wings along with the fuel storage. It's just one more headache a designer doesn't have to solve. I'm left with no choice but to teach myself CAD so I can address the issue myself. I can be done, and already has been. Just not so much in really small planes.

[@TheOwenMajor]

@@Rico11b I'm actually interested in the means to which you can move the occupants forward. That's obviously going to be alot of weight forward of the center of lift, it doesn't seem like a great solution to counter it all with the stabs.

[@Rico11b]

@@TheOwenMajor Na, it will be a matter of moving everything possible aft of CG. Probably most electronics boxes will need to move aft. It may also mean adding some length to the fuselage. It'll take some creative thinking, which is why so many aircraft designers avoid the whole thing. Like I said it's already been done before, but most of those are commercial products. Having 6 or 12 seater is out of the question for small plane private pilots, especially in "light sport", but the concepts can certainly be scaled down quite a bit. It's why I've started this journey to figure all this out. I KNOW there is a way it can be done, and done safely.

[@ThunderAppeal]

Horrible music. Just horrible. Horrible music that takes away so much from the quality of this video.

[@GeorgeStar]

I wish there was some commentary and explanation instead of the dopey music.