Jim Logajan wrote:
"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net wrote:
Jim Logajan wrote:
Seriously though - which parts are you saying they stole? The high-
wing STOL concept itself? Use of pulled rivets? Or the ugly boxy
shape?

Sure they modified it somewhat. But come on, for all intents the same
damn plane.

If they are both the same plane, then they should fly the same way.
Yet both manufacturers explicitly claim otherwise in their specs. I
don't see how they can both be the same "for all intents" and yet
different at the same time.

ICP made some changes to the wing. Many will say they improved the aircraft
and I'm not going to argue that because they may have. That doesn't disprove
that it looks like they made their modifications while they had a copy of
the 701 plans sitting there in front of them.



There appears to be no question (in my mind) that the fuselage shape
(and its internal structure?) and design of the landing gear appear
to be have been taken/stolen from the 701.


That's good otherwise I would have been concerned about the outcome of the
vision portion of your next medical.

On the other hand, one can buy a ready-to-fly S-LSA Savannah but not a
CH-701, as far as I know. ICP has made some good business decisions
on the Savannah while Zenith appears to have done little to improve
the 701 kit for years - until the Savannah came out.

Check out the new AMD Patriot that was announced at OSH. It is the next
generation 701. Please note though that now kit or plans were announced for
it. That's probably because of the way the 701 plans were copied.

I don't know when the Savannah came out. But the 2001 increase in GW was a
pretty significant improvement and Zenith has continued to increase the
quality of thier kits since I've began dealing with them in 2002. Leet me
ask you this. If Piper hadn't improved the wing on the Cherokee would that
have given Cessna the right to copy it and put a better wing on it?




This all relates to Denny's point: the plane has to be reasonably
priced (he set $45k) and ready-to-fly. Nothing from Zenith (or AMD)
comes close to that price point. The Savannah is the closest I can
find to matching his requirements - but at $65k still ~50% too
pricey. The AMD Zodiac XL comes in at $80k.

Yes and the new Zenith Patriot LSA will be RTF at about $100K as well. That
ought to tell you something. How can one company produce an aircraft that
much cheaper than all the rest? You can't blame USA labor costs because some
of those $80K-$100K planes are coming out of places like the Czech Republic.