AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 28

PILOT BRIEFING
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.

BUDGET BUY |

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% 10year loan with 20% down.

Funky fun

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.

Champ of an airplane
B Y A LTO N K . M A R S H

BIGGEST PLUS

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, someWHO TO CONTACT
Contact the Aeronca
times less. Ninety percent of Champ 7AC aircraft weigh
Aviators Club, Post Office
more than the logbooks say they do, Pancake said. He
Box 100, Coxsackie, New
recalls one logged at 808 pounds that actually weighed
York, 12051; phone 518-7313131; www.aeronca.org;
936 pounds.
email staff@aeronca.org.

EMAIL alton.marsh@aopa.org

28 | AOPA PILOT April 2015

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.



http://www.aeronca.org

AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 10
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 11
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 21
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 26
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 28
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 36
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 38
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 43
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - I1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - I2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - I3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - I4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - 50
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2015 - Cover4
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