Zenith CH701 or ICP Savannah

[Robert]

Hi
Looking into the Zenith CH701 or the ICP Savannah
Can anyone advise me which is the better aircraft to go for!!!!
Cheers

[Gig 601XL Builder]

"Robert" > wrote in message
...
> Hi
> Looking into the Zenith CH701 or the ICP Savannah
> Can anyone advise me which is the better aircraft to go for!!!!
> Cheers
>

Well the Zenith has a very fine support system both from the factory and
fellow builders.

GigG
601XL Builder

[[email protected]]

I've got the Savannah. I chose it because it was available quicker,
and with all the predrilled holes, it went together in about 275 hours
instead of the 700 or so for a 701.

I've flown both, and they are very similar in flight. I like the looks
of the 701 a little better, and the larger, lower cabin roof window
gives better over the wing visibility. The Savannah came with more
standard equipment and gauges. The bubble door option on the 701 is
nicer. The gross take off weight of the Savannah is now 1232 pounds,
but I think the Zenith is more like 1100.

The dealer for Savannah in North America has a pretty good comparison
on their website: http://www.skykits.com/Comparison.htm

I've got 145 hours on my plane, now, and love it. It is not a speed
demon. At 55% power, I cruise at 80 mph. For flying low, slow, and in
control, either plane is great.

I'm an old fart, 57 years. I started flying lessons in January, 2004,
got my certificate in May, ordered and recieved the kit in late July,
and had it flying the day after Christmas 2004. For me the most
important thing was to get flying before I get too old to remember why
I started the project.

tom

[[email protected]]

Another source of data is the use groups in Yahoo. For the 701 it is
something like 701-builders. For the Savannah it is Savannahaircraft.
In these groups you will be able to read what owners and builders are
doing to solve problems and help each other.

tom

[Montblack]

wrote)
> The dealer for Savannah in North America has a pretty good comparison on
> their website: http://www.skykits.com/Comparison.htm


This was a convincing page for building the Savannah instead of the Zenith.
http://www.skykits.com/Comparison.htm

"Note: There is a great deal of work required to drill rivet holes. First
the holes must be marked on the part in a straight line at a specified
separation. Then a pilot hole is drilled. Then the full size hole is
drilled. Finally the part is turned over and all the holes have to be
de-burred using a file and sandpaper. Sometimes you have to drill through
two parts at once which makes alignment problematic, sometimes resulting in
destroyed parts.

Drilling rivet holes is tedious and time consuming work, especially when you
consider that there are approximately 10,000 rivets in each of these kits.
That's 10,000 holes to be marked. 20,000 holes to be drilled and 10,000
holes to be de-burred. Yikes!! Well that's not quite correct - there are
approximately 10,000 holes to be marked, 20,000 holes to be drilled and
10,000 holes to be de-burred in the CH701 kit. There are about 150 holes to
be drilled in the Savannah kit. We think your time would be better spent
flying so we did the other 9,850 for you."


Montblack

[Jean-Paul Roy]

" We think your time would be better spent flying so we did the other 9,850
for you."

Yes true. But with a $10,000. difference it make for $1.015 a hole. I
decided to earn it.

J.P.
Qc. Canada

[[email protected]]

Yikes! At the time I bought mine, the costs for similarly equipped
kits were the same. I think I would probably drill more holes, too.

tom

[Ken Finney]

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Another source of data is the use groups in Yahoo. For the 701 it is
> something like 701-builders. For the Savannah it is Savannahaircraft.
> In these groups you will be able to read what owners and builders are
> doing to solve problems and help each other.
>

I've subscribed to both groups for quite a while. As an
over-simplification, the 701 group has a lot of "how does this go together"
questions with a lot of answers like "the plans are wrong, here is what you
need to do". None of that on the Savannah group. On the Savannah group, it
is people raving about how easy it is to build, and the other main group is
people complaining about how the American distributor rights were stolen
from the guy that used to have them. At Arlington last year, I walked back
and forth between the two, comparing them. My final verdict is that the
Savannah is a vastly better plane. YMMV.

The big issue with both (and others) these days is how the exchange rate has
pushed up the cost of a Rotax 912 so much.

[gilan]

The difference in price is more like $6000 not $10,000 but still is a lot of
money. I would have to see the kits side by side to really compare.

--
Have a good day and stay out of the trees!
See ya on Sport Aircraft group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sport_Aircraft/





"Jean-Paul Roy" >
> Yes true. But with a $10,000. difference it make for $1.015 a hole. I
> decided to earn it.
>
> J.P.
> Qc. Canada
>
>

[Jean-Paul Roy]

The difference is really $10,000.00 CDN maybe $6000.00US.
The Savannah sells for $26,900.00Cdn and the Zenith for $16,700.00Cdn. Easy
to do the math.

Jean-Paul
"gilan" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> The difference in price is more like $6000 not $10,000 but still is a lot
of
> money. I would have to see the kits side by side to really compare.
>
> --
> Have a good day and stay out of the trees!
> See ya on Sport Aircraft group
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sport_Aircraft/
>
>
>
>
>
> "Jean-Paul Roy" >
> > Yes true. But with a $10,000. difference it make for $1.015 a hole. I
> > decided to earn it.
> >
> > J.P.
> > Qc. Canada
> >
> >
>
>

[gilan]

make sure you are looking at the complete inventory of the kit when
comparing.
What comes in a Savannah kit as standard compared to what comes in a Zenith
kit as an extra expense? Do they both include the same things to build the
plane to the same point in the project? I may be wrong about this but it
looks as if the Savannah comes with a lot more to finish the plane. Let me
know if I'm wrong about this and where to look to confirm this? I am
interested in building one of these planes.

--
Have a good day and stay out of the trees!
See ya on Sport Aircraft group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sport_Aircraft/


"Jean-Paul Roy" <> The difference is really $10,000.00 CDN maybe $6000.00US.
> The Savannah sells for $26,900.00Cdn and the Zenith for $16,700.00Cdn.
> Easy
> to do the math.
>

[Ken Finney]

"Jean-Paul Roy" > wrote in message
.. .
> The difference is really $10,000.00 CDN maybe $6000.00US.
> The Savannah sells for $26,900.00Cdn and the Zenith for $16,700.00Cdn.
> Easy
> to do the math.
>
> Jean-Paul
> "gilan" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
>> The difference in price is more like $6000 not $10,000 but still is a lot
> of
>> money. I would have to see the kits side by side to really compare.
>>
>> --
>> Have a good day and stay out of the trees!
>> See ya on Sport Aircraft group
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sport_Aircraft/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Jean-Paul Roy" >
>> > Yes true. But with a $10,000. difference it make for $1.015 a hole. I
>> > decided to earn it.
>> >
>> > J.P.
>> > Qc. Canada
>> >

This time of year, with all the barley pops being consumed, they have to
make the math easy for Canadians!

Go Stars! (and Habs, too).