Its great that Zenith is hosting the STOL discussions, just seems a little disingenuous. I am just curious why you don't see their products in any of the STOL demos/competitions: OSH, Valdez, Texas STOL, etc.
Seems like that would be such a great marketing tool. I have flown the 701, its a great little airplane.
I'm pretty sure that the OSH gig is "by invitation only" and not open to just anyone... The people you see flying are the "names" you've heard of in Valdez, etc.
Valdez - most of those guys are "locals" and it doesn't seem like many of them fly Zenith aircraft up there. There are some good reasons for that, and they've been discussed MANY times in other threads, often titled something along the lines of "what airplane should I buy"... Personally, when I look at the nose gear attachment on those airplanes, I cannot convince myself that they are robust enough for the kind of abuse landing gear gets in Alaska. Probably fine for 99% of everything in the Lower 48, through. A good friend has a CH-750, and loves it. He jokes about doing his cross-wind landings "sideways" (90-degrees to the runway) on our 100-foot-wide runway. In the hands of a good pilot, it would probably do it, too!
As for Texas STOL, I believe if a CH-701, -750, or other Zenith pilot wanted to participate, they could. After all, last year's contest had a Champ that did some amazing landings, though the low-power takeoffs were far less spectacular than the typical STOL competitors... Maybe those Zenith guys just don't want to fly that far (at very slow cruising speeds) just to compete with small chances of winning?
I've considered flying my 1965 Champion 7ECA (100 HP O-200 powered) to the TX STOL event. But if I flew in the STOL contest, I would not be remotely competitive, since my "best" short landing performance is at least 2X (and more often 3X) the "average" at the TX STOL competition. Big guy in small airplane with small engine and ancient propeller, small tires and no flaps – none of these are ingredients for success in the STOL competition... My takeoff acceleration and climb in the heat of the day is "leisurely" at best – worse than the incredible Champ last year at Llano, by far!
And finally, it would take me almost as long to get there as it will driving my Truck towing the Camper... And the Camper is much more comfortable to sleep in... But the real reason is... (drum-roll) ... if I were competing, I would not get to see all the great competitors doing their thing, and for me, watching the "real pros" (and even the really good amateurs) perform is absolutely priceless - a real learning experience every time.
