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Zenith N701TL took me a little over a year to build, started on 6/18/09 and finished 8/05/10. The airworthiness certificate was issued on 9/16/10 and first flight was on 9/18/10.
It is powered by a Rotax 100 hp 912 ULS engine with a Warp Drive 72 inch prop, equipped with full steam gauges, a Dynon SkyView glass panel, Becker transponder and Flightline FL760 radio, AeroLED MicroSun landing lights and a BRS parachute system.
The first flight went well without problems on a beautiful Florida fall morning, the sun just coming up. After so much sacrifice the feeling of flying your project is just exhilarating! I have flown off the 40 hour test phase. My first passenger was my wife, her first flight ever that was not on a commercial plane and she loved it. As of this writing, I have approximately 50 hours and this plane is a joy to fly. Takeoff distance is around 100 feet and landing not much more. I wanted the challenge and satisfaction of building my own plane at least once in my lifetime.
Special thanks to my friend Keith Dull who lent his expertise in applying the paint and also to my sister Cynthia Pimentel who did the upholstery work for my seats which match the paint job. Last but not least, thanks to my wife Tanya who did not see me much during the year of building my plane. Full pictures of build and video of first flight can be found on the Zenith Builders site.
Thomas Longo
Location: Brooksville, FL
e-mail address: tclongo@att.net
Website: http://www.zenith.aero/profile/ThomasLongo
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