First introduced in 1986, the STOL CH 701 aircraft was developed as an off-airport, short take-off and landing kit aircraft to fulfill the demanding requirements of both sport pilots and first-time builders. With the STOL CH 701, designer Chris Heintz combined the features and advantages of a “real” airplane with the short-field capabilities of an “ultralight” aircraft. The aircraft features fixed leading-edge slats for high lift, full-span flaperons (both ailerons and flaps), an all-flying rudder, and durable all-metal construction.
The STOL CH 701 was not designed to be just another ‘pretty’ light aircraft, but was engineered to offer outstanding short take-off and landing performance, all-metal durability, and unparalleled ease of construction. With form following function, the STOL CH701 looks like a ‘Sky Jeep’, as it is often called by its owners.
Popular since 1986, there are hundreds of STOL CH 701 aircraft flying around the world! Not many of the more than 500 STOL CH 701’s flying today can be found at airports – most are operated from short off-airport grass fields, in backyard fields and in remote areas. The aircraft’s all-metal construction makes it suitable for continuous outdoor storage – providing their owners with continuous cost savings (no hanger or tie-down fees).
Created in meticulous detail, the SWS 701 features:
Detailed visual model made from factory drawings
Realistic flight model with accurate STOL performance
Sounds recorded from the real aircraft
Detailed cockpit featuring custom instruments
Door and no-door variants in four liveries
A bush trip through New York state
Three airports improved with custom objects and ground textures
Lufker (49N)/Spadaro (1N2)
Sky Acres (44N)
Roxbury Runway (1NK0)
Note: The aircraft makes use of the default GNS530 and GTX330
Minimum System Requirements
GPU: Radeon RX 570 / NVIDIA GTX 770, 4GB minimum
CPU: Ryzen 3 1200 / Intel i5-4460
RAM: 8GB RAM
OS: Windows 10
Note: a joystick with a throttle is required for this add-on to function correctly
Recommended System Requirements
GPU: Radeon RX 590 / Nvidia GTX 970, 4GB minimum
CPU: Ryzen 5 1500X / Intel i5-8400
RAM: 16GB RAM
OS: Windows 10
Note: a joystick with a throttle is required for this add-on to function correctly
Stand-alone: Yes
Theme: Civilian
6 reviews for Zenith CH701 STOL
Rated 5 out of 5
Darrin –
Love it so far
Download and install went well , the plane loaded into the program, I selected a runway near me and went to fly it then crashed MSFS, tried again and the same thing, saw this error 0x800000003 at location 0x00007FF770C4C4A2. Rebooted and restarted MSFS and this time it worked, I guess something just had to register. Flow the 701 for over 6 hours now and it is great. Running on a HP OMEN with Thrustmaster joystick and rudder peddles. The only fault I see is the Flaps Physics, just not right, it seems with every notch of flaps an extra 100 lbs gets added to the nose to the point with full flaps you need full up, full up trim and full throttle to keep it from being a lawn dart. the solution is to use no flaps or one notch.
Rated 5 out of 5
Darrin –
Its very good
Its very good, latest version has the flaps working good..
Rated 5 out of 5
JD –
The most fun airframe for sight seeing in FS2020
I use the Oculus Rift-S VR with FS2020. In this plane, the experience is amazing. Fun and easy to fly, great field of view. I only wish I could figure out how to get rid of the co-pilot model.
Either way, do yourself a favor and get this plane. It’s a joy.
Rated 4 out of 5
Matt (verified owner)–
Great visuals, pretty good flight performance
As a Zenith pilot (my brother and I own an 801) this was a fun get, and so soon after the game came out. Visually, the plane is fantastic. Flight model wise, it’s very good. I’ve only done a couple demo flights in a 701, but it feels pretty authentic. Price is a little high, IMO, but being a Zenith pilot, I couldn’t resist.
Rated 3 out of 5
Brian –
Great but for one issue
This review is for the Series X version. This plane flies much like the real thing, almost too much ???? the issue is that the aircraft slowly banks left, as there is no rudder or aileron trim the only way to correct this is to have the fuel distribution at 90 percent left, and 10 percent right, as well as increasing the passengers weight by 20 lbs and decreasing the pilots weight by the same amount.
Even doing that it still banks left, but at a much more manageable amount.
The performance is not really that far off from the older 701 I own, the takeoff and landing distance are fairly spot on, though the aircraft pulls a bit to hard left when power is added during takeoff.
All around a very solid aircraft even with the couple of minor annoyance’s.
Rated 5 out of 5
509tigers.org (verified owner)–
the best
the best for pilots
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Darrin –
Love it so far
Download and install went well , the plane loaded into the program, I selected a runway near me and went to fly it then crashed MSFS, tried again and the same thing, saw this error 0x800000003 at location 0x00007FF770C4C4A2. Rebooted and restarted MSFS and this time it worked, I guess something just had to register. Flow the 701 for over 6 hours now and it is great. Running on a HP OMEN with Thrustmaster joystick and rudder peddles. The only fault I see is the Flaps Physics, just not right, it seems with every notch of flaps an extra 100 lbs gets added to the nose to the point with full flaps you need full up, full up trim and full throttle to keep it from being a lawn dart. the solution is to use no flaps or one notch.
Darrin –
Its very good
Its very good, latest version has the flaps working good..
JD –
The most fun airframe for sight seeing in FS2020
I use the Oculus Rift-S VR with FS2020. In this plane, the experience is amazing. Fun and easy to fly, great field of view. I only wish I could figure out how to get rid of the co-pilot model.
Either way, do yourself a favor and get this plane. It’s a joy.
Matt (verified owner) –
Great visuals, pretty good flight performance
As a Zenith pilot (my brother and I own an 801) this was a fun get, and so soon after the game came out. Visually, the plane is fantastic. Flight model wise, it’s very good. I’ve only done a couple demo flights in a 701, but it feels pretty authentic. Price is a little high, IMO, but being a Zenith pilot, I couldn’t resist.
Brian –
Great but for one issue
This review is for the Series X version. This plane flies much like the real thing, almost too much ???? the issue is that the aircraft slowly banks left, as there is no rudder or aileron trim the only way to correct this is to have the fuel distribution at 90 percent left, and 10 percent right, as well as increasing the passengers weight by 20 lbs and decreasing the pilots weight by the same amount.
Even doing that it still banks left, but at a much more manageable amount.
The performance is not really that far off from the older 701 I own, the takeoff and landing distance are fairly spot on, though the aircraft pulls a bit to hard left when power is added during takeoff.
All around a very solid aircraft even with the couple of minor annoyance’s.
509tigers.org (verified owner) –
the best
the best for pilots