Hello Gray,

Anxiety could be tough. I would keep in mind that the plane itself is very unlikely to let you down.  The 601 is very simple and since the wing upgrade, they don't ever fail.  The most important component in an airplane is the engine and the most important thing to keep the engine running is fuel.  You don't need the miles of wire and gauges to work.  They are not needed. A running engine is all you need.

However in a Zenith 601 you often don't absolutely need the engine, because they touch down at a reasonable speed you can dead-stick it in, not that there is often any need to do that - hasn't happened yet in my 2,000 hours.  Its just that the survival rate in off-field landings in slow airplanes is much better than fast ones.

Its good to have a plan for engine failure and when you become comfortable with the plane, you might want to practice dead-stick landings.  No need to turn off the engine, just idle it back, come up with a plan and see how it works out.  Do this over and over until you understand what works and what does not.

Steve

Mine is a 601XLB LYC 235 L2C

Hi Gary. Thanks for your info I will try your tecknea and see what happens, I have a 3300 jabiru engine which is lighter than yours.

As I said I am new to the site and in future I will post on the blog.

Thanks again Gordon