Zenith 701 and rotax advice please

[Aaron H]

I'm in a club and it's harder and harder to schedule and there is no hangars available at any airports within a hour from me. Started thinking of building a runway on my property, which would limit me to something like the zenith( I like the tricycle gear idea, it's what I'm use to). I have a dozer and backhoe to do it and have built my own house and 1 acre pond.

I am looking at buying one already built due to time restrictions.

First question is about runways.
I can make one 500ft long that is 10% down hill that drops off a small Cliff or a 1000ft runway with trees at end and a hagar would have to put at the other.
Are either of these doable or am I dreaming?

Second question is about 3, 701s that are built on barnstormers.
1. Is and old 701 kit with all the new upgrades but with a 582 and 15 gallon header tank. From talking with the builder, he seems OCD, which I like in a builder. However I would want to upgrade to a 912 and would have to add fuel tanks in the wings and get a complete firewall forward kit. He will deliver for me. Listed at 22k.
2. A completed kit in Washington, no airworthiness certificate, 2006 912uls that has never had fuel in it but has oil. I would have to ship this to Pennsylvania somehow? And not sure about engine being that old. Would this have to be rebuilt or just o rings replaced?
Listed for 30k
3. A completed kit in 2002, 1100 gross kit, 912ul in Florida. Has 2 11 gallon wing tanks that gravity feeds to a 6 gallon header tank. Is this good or bad? (Read about 1 header tank blowing up because of a leak) wood prop, again is this good or bad? Do the 80hp gear boxes need to be serviced? The bonus with the 80hp is I have 89 octane ethonal free fuel close and don't have to worry about the 100hp shaking the rivets loose.
Listed at 25k firm.

Looking for advice on which one I should be looking into more or ruling one out.

Any feedback would be great
Thx!

 

[zaitcev]

I can make one 500ft long that is 10% down hill that drops off a small Cliff or a 1000ft runway with trees at end and a hangar would have to put at the other.
Are either of these doable or am I dreaming?

Both are okay with light gross weights and your upgrade to 912, IMHO. The 701 uses very little runway. However, ask yourself:
- how are your landings - are they consistent in varying winds? Consistency more important than record shortness.
- are you okay with landing at a steep runway? 10% is massive!
- are winds varying at your place?

I used to live where winds were mostly from the west, but now where they are either from south or north, depending. Having a one-way runway would be very unpleasant. Although, a 10% grade would nullify a 20 knots tailwind, I imagine...

Second question is about 3, 701s that are built on barnstormers.
...
2. A completed kit in Washington, no airworthiness certificate, ...
Listed for 30k

This is so sad that I'm thinking you might want to start working on your tailwheel endorsement. I love Zenits, but man. And for the love of god, stay away from unfinished airplanes. Who knows what's going on in there if he could not even get DAR to sign it.

P.S. Another thing you might seriously consider is a gyroplane. I'm not joking. Well, they are expensive, but I'm sure you can get a Butterfly or Lightning for $30k. Just don't skimp on power.

 

[Aaron H]

Hx for quick reply Zaitcev
The 10 percent is at most, I am pretty conservative.

I think I would be more confident landing there than taking off.

Good advice about not finished and I will look into the gyro...what happens if you ever had an engine fail? Is there anyway to get them to the ground?

I'm thinking the 80hp is one I should focus on more, but not sure if the extra 20hp is a must for my circumstances.

Thx again

 

[jnmeade]

I fly a Flight Design CTSW with 100 hp Rotax 912ULS out of an 800' runway that has an 80' elevations change. Flat for 200', then uphill, then flat again for about 450', with creek on the(south) low end and a shed on the (north) high end. Land to the north over the creek and touch down within about 200' or the hill gets steep. With a wind from the south (tailwind) the flat landing area goes by pretty quickly. Add serious power to taxi up hill. No go around due to shed and highline wires. Take off to the south from the shed. South of the creek, land rises again about the same was as it rises to the north. When I take off, I'm airborne at about 450', just where the strip goes seriously downhill. I break ground, stuff the nose down in ground effect going down hill to get Vx, then pitch up to gain enough altitude to clear the hill. When I have a tail wind (from the north) over about 10 knots, the hill on the south starts to get a little intimate. That's my real message about using a sloping one-way strip. You've probably already chair flown every likely wind situation and have already anticipated these possibilities.
I've flown out of this strip with an Aeronca Champ and once did it with an engine that (I didn't know it) had serious compression problems. I have no idea how much hp I was making but it was nowhere near the 65hp nominal rating. I got off OK but the climb was abysmal. The fence at the top of the south hill got very cozy - too cozy.

 

[Aaron H]

Thx jnmeade.
Nice to know a flight design can do it, the zenith shouldn't be an issue then.

 

[skier]

Talk with Rockiedog2 on homebuiltairplanes.com. He has a 701

 

[Aaron H]

Thx skier.
I tried to register with that site and it keeps telling me to solve a puzzle to verify I'm not a robot....but there is no puzzle?

 

[Dana]

Thx skier.
I tried to register with that site and it keeps telling me to solve a puzzle to verify I'm not a robot....but there is no puzzle?

You're right, something's wrong there, I just tried it myself. I'm a moderator there and can't fix it myself but I'll pass it along to the administrator.

 

[Aaron H]

Thx

 

[Aaron H]

Bump