Plans have been ordered!
I decided to order plans for the Zenith CH750 Cruzer! It seems to meet all my requirements in terms of backcountry flying (with modifications) as well as cross country flying.
I also put up N219GH for sale. It's a sad moment, but I imagine it won't sell right away. So I have some time to get more training in and see if I can knock out my Commercial and Instrument!
Cross Country
Right out of the box, the plane has the specs for a cross country flyer. It's a little slower than my Rans, but I imagine I could push the performance a bit further with a more powerful engine.
In fact, I'd love to use one of the turbocharged Rotax engines if I can get away with it. My Rans has cooling issues with the Rotax 914 likely due to poor ducting, but I imagine this cowling should allow a proper fit.
The primary goal here is to meet or exceed 115mph cruise.
The secondary goal is an engine that can get me to 17,000 feet.
Finally, enough cargo space to carry a bunch of stuff!
Backcountry Flying
While the plane isn't designed for backcountry flying, some folks have made some modifications that allow it to perform pretty decently. At least...better than the 350 feet advertised distances. Some items I need to look into:
- Extended gear legs. The plane is lower to the ground than its STOL counterpart. Other builders have used the Super Duty gearing to push the airframe up and get some tundra tires put on.
- Vortex generators. Since I want a cross country plane, a slat isn't going to cut it. It's a great tool for STOL flying, but I can't have something producing a ton of drag. Vortex generators are a nice way to keep my cruise speeds while improving low speed handling. Thus being able to land and take off in shorter distances.
- More powerful engine. I imagine whatever I use needs to have some decent horsepower to go with it. With a more slippery airframe, I'll need more power in order to make the difference for a lack of lift.
- I probably can't get too crazy here. Likely won't be able to afford something like a new Rotax 916.
The game plan...
Once the plans arrive, I'll have to take some time going over everything. I'll need to make sure I not only understand the assembly manual, but the plans as well.
The first objective would be to take the tail, draft up the parts in CAD as flat packs, and figure out how many sheets of aluminum I'm going to need. From a bill of materials I found online, it looks like I'll need roughly $4,500 USD of rough stock to fabricate most parts. I'll have to really study methods for cutting those parts out through so I'm not redoing things a bunch.
Well, actually likely before that I'll have to build some workshop tables before I can do anything else. The EAA and a couple other sites have some good resources on how to put together a solid set of tables.
Once I start the tail (likely the rudder to start, just like the kit), I'll know if this is the path that I want to take!