Champ of an airplane
Funky is the best term to describe an Aeronca Champ. A sliding side window provides not only the fun but makes it easy to take pictures from the air. While it is slow, its operating budget is low. Put it on a grass field and you’re back in the 1940s.
The real world
Bill Pancake, a member of the Aeronca Aviators Club and an international Champ expert, knows more about Champs than the Internet. Recalls it faster, too, using something called memory. Pancake says you can expect to put $2,000 a year into your aircraft, totaling all possible costs except hangar rental, depending on how much you fly. Most burn five gallons per hour, sometimes less. Ninety percent of Champ 7AC aircraft weigh more than the logbooks say they do, Pancake said. He recalls one logged at 808 pounds that actually weighed 936 pounds.
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Who to contact
Contact the Aeronca Aviators Club, Post Office Box 100, Coxsackie, New York, 12051; phone 518-731-3131; www.aeronca.org; Email [email protected].
Vref value
Vref, the AOPA partner offering aircraft value estimates, suggests a base price for the Aeronca Champ of $19,000 for the 1946 model to $27,000 for the 1951 model.
Recent advertised prices
Listed in Trade-A-Plane at the time this was written were three 1946 Champs and one 1947 Champ ranging from $28,000 for a 1946 model to $34,500, also a 1946 model.
Insurance costs
AOPA Insurance Services estimates an average-cost Champ airframe flown by a low-time pilot will cost $900 to $1,100 per year to insure.
How many in the fleet?
AIRPAC PlaneBase shows a registered fleet of 2,308 Champ 7AC aircraft. There are 52 newer Bellanca 7ACA Champs introduced in 1971. (Only 20 ACAs are estimated to be flying.)
Financing
AOPA Finance estimates $272 month on a 6.5% 10-year loan with 20% down.
Airworthiness directives
There was a serious AD in 2000 requiring a wing spar inspection. If an aircraft ever ground-looped, it may have a crack in the wing spar.
Biggest plus
Economical fun when you positively, absolutely don’t have to get there overnight—or the same week, adds Aeronca Aviators Club President Robert Szego. The 7AC and 7ACA qualify as Light Sport aircraft. New Champ models, like the 7EC and up, do not qualify because they are too heavy.
Biggest minus
Cruise speed is 70 knots.
Things to watch out for
Make sure propeller and engine serial numbers match the ones in the logbook.
What else to consider
Pilots considering the Champ 7AC might also consider the Champion Citabria.
