One of the few new designs introduced at Sun ‘n Fun likely looks slightly familiar, but Zenair’s new 750 Cruzer has a different mission from its well-known predecessors. Rather than emphasize the short-field capabilities of its ancestors, the CH-701 and CH-750, the 750 Cruzer is designed for comfortable conventional field and cross-country operations. “We’ve optimized the new design for cruise and typical (airport) operations, while retaining the popular cabin features of the STOL CH-750,” Zenair spokesman Sebastien Heintz said. “We’ve retained some of the most popular features of the STOL CH-750, while optimizing the new design for cross-country flying,” As if to punctuate that point, Heintz flew the Cruzer 1,000 miles from the factory in Mexico, Mo., to Sun ‘n Fun.
It has a new wing and tail (fin and rudder instead of moveable vertical stab) and even sports wheel pants. Up front is a 130-hp UL350is fuel injected engine. Empty weight is 780 pounds so the useful load is 540 pounds. Although the UL engine is standard, the firewall is borrowed from the CH-650 and CH-750 so it will take virtually any popular engine in the 100-hp range. Zenair says anyone with basic skills and hand tools can put the metal airframe together in 400 hours.
