Request Zenith 750 Cruzer Info

[CarlOrton]

Hi, All;

I'm contemplating a Zenith 750 Cruzer kit. Aside from bugging the factory, one cannot join the Zenith discussion forums without a plans number.

I'm mostly interested in planes that have been (almost) completed with either an O-200 or Corvair engine. I'd like to know overall costs, avionics selections, kit completion, "gotchas", etc.

Specifically:

1. If you used an O-200, did you purchase the new "-D" model or an "A"? If the latter, did you select a used mid-time engine, one that was freshly overhauled, or did you overhaul it yourself?

1a. If you used a Corvair, which displacement option did you choose? Care to share what your engine build cost? (that will depend more on if you used a 5th bearing, WHICH 5th bearing, GM or billet crank, etc., so any build choices would be appreciated.

2. It appears that there is panel depth for a standard "tray mount" unit, like an SL-40, GTX-327, etc. True? How extensive is your avionics install? I'm under DFW Class Bravo, so I'll need an xpndr, but aside from that did you go with analog or EFIS type instrumentation. Brand selected, and why?

3. If complete, what is your empty weight? Did you paint?

4. The website says that the complete kit includes everything needed to build. Is that *really* complete, or do you need to purchase hardware? Cables? Supplies?

Thanks for any insight you might provide; if you'd be more comfortable taking this offline, please send a PM.

[wyoranch]

Carl,
i was in the same boat, I could not join without a serial number. It was suggested that I email an admin and tell them that I wanted to join for the very same reason you want to. I was immediately approved and givin instruction on how to sign up. They are a good bunch of folks there. Drop them a line
rick

[CarlOrton]

Thanks, Rick; Yeah, I kind of thought that that approach might work; what better sales force than active builders!

[CarlOrton]

Well, one can get to the zenith.aero home page, but you must login for anything else, including the 750 Cruzer forum. I wrote the admin, and they took the approach that my questions should be answerable from the zenith.aero homepage. Oh well; I'll bug the snot out of 'em at Convention.

[wyoranch]

In the FWIW department, I absolutely love the Zenith Line and I am going back and forth between a 650 and 750. I just can't decide if I want fun in the mountain strips here or if I actually want to use it for travel. Anyway, the folks at the booth last year were awesome. Climb in on under over the planes, asked a million questions, got answers to the million questions. Just great folks, that is what sold me on their products.
Rick
P.S. It did not hurt that a 750 was built and flown in a week. Getting to see it come together gave me the confidence to say I can do it (although not in a week.... It might take 2-3 weeks Lol )

[wyoranch]

Also, I do get why they make it difficult to sign up, having experience in a different industry but the same idea. Open membership allows for people to contribute who have no business contributing. Members who have no more experience building a Zenith than they do performing brain surgery. That creates a lot of noise that just interferes with the integrity of the information being shared. I split the ground and allowed 'read only' access. As an admin it eliminated the 5 0nasty emails a day I would receive a day for not being able to join.

[CarlOrton]

Yes, I understand that part. When the Sonex forums were under Yahoo Groups we'd have the same thing. Well-meaning folks who'd never built one imparting their wisdom to relative newbies.

I just want to talk to someone who's built / building one; the factory is great at answering questions, but it's never the same as the real-world builders.

I casually looked at the one in the Zenith booth last year and tried it on for size, and also worked at the OWW teaching folks how to pull a rivet. Since I wasn't contemplating selling the Sonex at the time, I didn't look *that* hard at it. Should be fun this year.

[dljosephson]

Hi, All;

I'm contemplating a Zenith 750 Cruzer kit. Aside from bugging the factory, one cannot join the Zenith discussion forums without a plans number.

Hello Carl, I am about halfway through a 750 Cruzer build and have a Corvair engine project going also. I am not sure which engine will be on the plane for phase I, but that almost doesn't matter. Zenith tries to keep the signal-to-noise ratio high on zenith.aero. If you are at all serious about the Cruzer, buy a set of plans and study them. You need to learn a lot between now and the first hole you drill, and the plans will help.

I'm mostly interested in planes that have been (almost) completed with either an O-200 or Corvair engine. I'd like to know overall costs, avionics selections, kit completion, "gotchas", etc.

Specifically:

1. If you used an O-200, did you purchase the new "-D" model or an "A"? If the latter, did you select a used mid-time engine, one that was freshly overhauled, or did you overhaul it yourself?

I don't know of anyone who has built one with an O-200D although there are lots of 750s with regular O-200s.

1a. If you used a Corvair, which displacement option did you choose? Care to share what your engine build cost? (that will depend more on if you used a 5th bearing, WHICH 5th bearing, GM or billet crank, etc., so any build choices would be appreciated.

Mine is a 3000 cc. It will probably cost $9,000 by the time it's done, with a Weseman 5th bearing and a nitrided GM crank. This does not include the prop, cowling or engine mount. This is not a difficult project, but it is time-consuming, both in your own time and because you need to have expert machine work done by people with experience on aircraft conversions who have already made most of the mistakes that can be made.

2. It appears that there is panel depth for a standard "tray mount" unit, like an SL-40, GTX-327, etc. True? How extensive is your avionics install? I'm under DFW Class Bravo, so I'll need an xpndr, but aside from that did you go with analog or EFIS type instrumentation. Brand selected, and why?

There is plenty of panel depth. You will need to engineer your own support for tray mount avionics, the panel as supplied is very rudimentary and you will need more bracing, doublers, etc. Mine will have a Dynon D100 and D120, SL40, GTX327, plus backup airspeed and altimiter. Plenty of room for all that. Even older deeper radios will fit. The extent of your avionics suite will depend on how much of your budget, alternator current and useful load you want to give away to toys on the panel.

3. If complete, what is your empty weight? Did you paint?

There aren't too many Cruzers done yet. Empty weight is about the same as STOL CH750s due to the extra wing strength to support the single spar and the increased Vne over the STOL even though the slat is absent. You can build them light (Rotax) under 800 pounds. Some are over 900. Light is good.

4. The website says that the complete kit includes everything needed to build. Is that *really* complete, or do you need to purchase hardware? Cables? Supplies?

It is complete firewall back except for fluids and paint (if you buy their upholstery kit.) No hardware or cables are needed. You will need things like wire ties, heat shrink tubing, solder. For instance, the entire fuel system is included, if you are happy with rubber fuel hoses teed together to one line, with a simple shutoff valve and a gascolator under the seats. This will work perfectly well but many builders opt for switchable fuel tanks, different fuel drain situations, etc. You can build it exactly per plans and have a good simple airplane. You will need a few more tools than they suggest, for instance an aircraft type angle drill and some long drill bits for your regular drill. A belt or large disk sander, preferably a benchtop or floor standing one, is very helpful as some parts must be trimmed to fit. The hole location of the match-drilled parts in my experience has been perfect but some of the edges may need adjustment.

You will find good discussions about the Zenith planes on homebuiltairplanes.com, and I'm sure there are other builders here on EAA Forums besides me. For Corvair engines, again the answer is that you must buy the plans/manual and study. There is a lot of very useful information on flycorvair.com and flycorvair.net. Everyone has opinions, you can sort out for yourself from WW's writing what is opinion and what is fact verified by experience. Use that same logic for whatever decisions you make, from whatever the source. This is not a fit-tab-a-into-slot-b project. Regardless of which engine you use, attend one of WW's Corvair Colleges and ask a lot of questions. A Corvair, particularly one with larger displacement, will produce more thrust than an O-200 will, but you need a smaller propeller that will allow the engine to reach a higher rpm than the prop you'd use on an O-200. This will result in the difference in performance vs an O-200 to be not as great as the horsepower numbers would indicate, because the smaller prop will be somewhat less efficient.

[CarlOrton]

DLJosephson, I've sent you a PM. thanks for responding!