Showdown! Zenith vs. Zenith
Zenith's Zodiac XL and STOL 701 are both built for fun... at polar ends of the scale. By Dave Higdon
Zodiac CH601XL
STOL CH701
Could two airplanes produced by the same company look more different then Zenith Aircraft's rugged STOL CH701 and the sporty Zodiac CH601XL?
Hardly.
The
differences stem from the diverse missions of Chris Heintz's two signature kit
airplane creations. The younger of the two, the 701 STOL (short takeoff and
landing) shines at short takeoffs and landings and leisurely low-and-slow
flying. Conversely, the elder Zodiac series with the addition of the newest
model 601XL, excels at high-speed , cross-country cruising while also turning in
decent runway performance.
Zodiac XL Video
Yet it takes less then a genius to recognize the many common traits that account for the family resemblance between Zenith's bug-cute 701 and the racer like Zodiac. Both designs boast all-aluminum construction primarily using 6061-T6 that yields extremely lightweight airframes.
Both use few parts that can't be shipped flat-that is, few parts require and complicated forming. You can see what I mean by the number of flat skins and corners in both fuselages. And any parts needing complicated bends or lightening holes come wiht that work done, ready to install.
Zenith's Factory Demonstrator 601XL uses the Jabiru 3300 for power
A Rotax 912 pulls the 701 off the ground in approximately 100 feet.
Both planes employ fully flying rudders with no fixed vertical stabilizer. The rudder's clever, simple design employs a hinge line far aft of the leading edge to give the surface a large aerodynamic counterbalance. Furthermore, both sport wide cabins with enough space for a pair of large people to fly without any risk for center-elbow abrasions.
The 601XL's panel on the right is slightly larger then the 701's but both allow space for a fully equipted VFR instrument package.
Additionally, both go together predominantly with aircraft-grade Avex pull-stem rivets, which together with the simplicity of the design make for kits that can actually be assembled in a few hundred hours. But as mentioned at the start, these two airplanes could hardly differ more in mission and , by extension, in appearance.
Copied in part from an article on the Zenith website
