Zenith CH 650
These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ.
The CH 650 is Zenith's current two-seat low-wing, the 2008-era development of the Zodiac CH 601 XL to the light-sport limits with a new canopy, tail and wingtips: 27 ft span, 695 lb empty and 1,320 lb gross, and with a 100 hp Rotax 912S Zenith quotes 155 mph true at 8,000 ft, a 44 mph stall, 900 fpm and 656 miles.
The 650 is the Zodiac to buy if you want the XL's cabin and speed with the post-2009 structure built in from the start rather than retrofitted: the wing carries the reinforced spar and balanced ailerons that the FAA review of the 601 XL produced, and a 650 B needs none of the XL's upgrade paperwork. It remains a kit aeroplane: the three engine columns on Zenith's page differ by a hundred pounds of empty weight and 100 miles of range, builders fit O-200s, UL Powers and Vikings as well, and the individual aircraft's weight-and-balance and build log are the record. It is a 44-inch-wide, 130-knot cross-country two-seater with light-sport useful load, which means two adults and full fuel is a weight-and-balance question. The owner may maintain an amateur-built 650 and the condition inspection needs an A&P or the repairman; the AMD-built 650 LS follows S-LSA rules. Kits are in production.
Variants of the Zenith CH 650
- CH 650 · 90 active · this page
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
Compare with…
Put Zenith CH 650 side by side with up to three other models.
- Zenith CH 650
Watch this model
One email a day if anything changes: new ADs and NTSB records.
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Rotax 912S (reference; Jabiru 3300 110, Lycoming O-235 116, UL Power and Continental O-200 fitted) |
| Horsepower | 100 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | — |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 135 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 570 nm |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | 900 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 38 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 630 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,320 lb |
| Empty weight | 695 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 100 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 90 |
| Median year built | 2017 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 8 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 88.89 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 55.56 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 28 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 31.11 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 90 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 90 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 90 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 4.4 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 8.5 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 8.1 of 103 |
| Support | 5.5 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 8.7 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 35.2 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 36.69 · 321 models in class.
- Severity: class median 13.04.
- Access: class median 1,000.
- Support: class median 77.5.
- Liquidity: class median 20.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 6 · scores Sep 30