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 Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 12:14 pm Post subject: Report of Stol 701 on Czech Amphibious 1200 floats (4 wheel) |
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With over 50 hours on my Stol 701SP on the floats (over 100 total) I feel I can report on the combination of 701 and the 4 wheel amphibs. My 701 has a Rotax 912uls , warp drive prop, with a carb air box, (Sky Shops FFW conversion kit with new style cowling) faired wing struts and Sky Shops electric flaperon kit. Every thing else is stock. The floats are the A-1200 Czechs. The mods to the floats that I did include a http://www.flyingsafer.com/ gear position warning system, stainless steel wheel bearings and a wider horn on the rudder for great water rudder response. One other modification that was applied at 25 hours on floats was a aluminum cover for the area that the landing gear went under the fuselage. This I feel is a must...I gained a lot of climb. This area was like a speed brake at some climb attitudes.I also have a Avid Magnum (160 hp) on Aqua 1500 floats (500+ hours) in Wisconsin, the 701 is my Florida aircraft.
The install of the floats was not to hard and the instructions were good. The photo CD was very helpful for me. Support from Sky Shops was excellent. The weight on wheels was 586 lbs on floats about 740lbs. Not bad ...I raised my gross [on floats only] to 1240 lbs. This still gives me a good useful load. The take off with me (220lbs) and full fuel (120lbs) on a 70 degree day is very quick. Add the second person to gross and the takeoff seems to double but still beats most of the aircraft on our airstrip off the runway. I use about 13 to 15 degrees of flaps for takeoff. 10 to full for landing.
Comparisons:My friend Jim has a Rans S-7 on Czech 1150 x 4 Amphibs . He has the 912S with the warp drive. With full fuel and pilot (we weigh about the same) we take off in about the same distance (land and water) and climb is similar. With a passenger he has a small edge in all operations and can easily out climb me. The BIG difference is cruse. 701 85 mph Rans S-7 100 mph. (GPS)
I could get a bit more cruse with a constant speed prop or repitching the warp drive. But I'm trying to compare apples to apples. The Rans has a glide. The 701....well let's just say we never have to slip! That said ...I love my 701 and fly it most of the time low and slow. It's great for checking on "gators" and wild pigs! The flight over to Cedar Key at 100 or so feet over the Gulf is a blast. There are NOT a lot of amphibious aircraft that will outperform the Stol 701.....But there are some. When I fly with Jim in the Rans I throttle up and he throttles back. (He loves the fuel savings!!!!) I tell everyone that if you look up the word "drag" in the dictionary you'll see a picture of the 701! Landings are short in both aircraft. Water handling is great.
I had a problem getting the 701 in my hanger as the door is 9' 2" high....the tail a few inches higher. My choices were a new hydraulic door for $7,000 or a lift for the spreader bar for about $100 bucks. Yep ...I went for the spreader bar lift!
These are my opinions and observations in my 701 "The Odd Duck" . Every 701 is a little different as is performance. The money that I have in the whole setup is less than a new set of Wipline floats for a Supercub or Husky and it's just as fun. I'll try to answer any other questions anyone has. And a big thanks for help I received on the Zenith List.
Tom Schulke STOL 701 SP Rotax 912ULS
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