Wednesday 29 April 2020

Zenair CH 801s (Only One) of New Zealand

The next up sports aircraft to be registered was the four seater Zenair CH 801:

The Zenair CH 801 was designed by Chris Heintz as a follow on from his successful CH 701 series.  It first appeared in 1999 and an improved model the CH 801 SD is still available as a kit.  It is quite a capable back country plane with its STOL capability and a 1,000 pound useable load.

Specifications are: length 24 feet 6 inches (7.47 metres), the wingspan is 27 feet (8.23 metres) and the wing area is 167 square feet.  The empty weight is around 1,150 pounds (475 Kg) and the MAUW in New Zealand is 2,200 pounds (997kg).  The standard engine is the 180 HP Lycoming O-360 which gives a cruise of 105 mph (91 knots) while the stall speed is 39 mph (34 knots).

We have had just the one Zenair CH 801 in New Zealand, as follows:

Our sole Zenair CH 801 was built in 2002 in Austria as OE-KWJ.  It was imported into New Zealand in 2014 and was registered as ZK-PIP4 (c/n 801-141) to Addis Holdings Ltd (Brent Addis) of Papakura on 4/8/14.  It was assembled at Pioneer Aero at Ardmore where it is photo'd above and below on 23/2/15.


I never saw it flying, but here is a nicer photo taken at Tauranga on 6/10/15.

Ownership changed to Wilson's Farm Tekapo Ltd of Christchurch on 28/11/19 and I understand that it is now based at Rangiora.

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