Aeronca 15AC Sedan

[JAX]

Amomg other planes, I've been considering the classic Aeronca 15AC
Sedan, and was wondering what to look for or to avoid when doing a
pre-buy. Also, general comments good and bad about the plane? There
aren't many for sale to use as reference, I know NAAA and Vref list
them in the mid to upper twenties but an owner insists they're worth a
lot more, like 60 to 80 thousand which I find hard to believe. What's
a realistic price for one in good condition? TIA

[Rob McDonald]

"JAX" > wrote in news:1117905262.948844.178580
@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> Amomg other planes, I've been considering the classic Aeronca 15AC
> Sedan, and was wondering ...

Join the Aeronca mailing list and ask there. Although it is predominantly
Champ and Chief owners, there are Sedan owners, and lots of knowledgeable
people there:

<http://mail.westmont.edu/mailman/listinfo/aeronca>,
or
?subject=subscribe>

Rob
1946 Aeronca 7AC Champion
CF-RWQ (Previously NC84677)

[Orval Fairbairn]

In article . com>,
"JAX" > wrote:

> Amomg other planes, I've been considering the classic Aeronca 15AC
> Sedan, and was wondering what to look for or to avoid when doing a
> pre-buy. Also, general comments good and bad about the plane? There
> aren't many for sale to use as reference, I know NAAA and Vref list
> them in the mid to upper twenties but an owner insists they're worth a
> lot more, like 60 to 80 thousand which I find hard to believe. What's
> a realistic price for one in good condition? TIA

I understand that one of the biggest hazards in flying the Sedan is
birdstrikes from the rear. ;>)

--
Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.

[Robert M. Gary]

If its like the other Aeroncas, the biggest hassle is trying to find
one that is airworthy. I spent over a year looking for an airworthy
champ. All I could find is unairworthy or show planes (recently
restored). Since I was looking for something to just knock around in, I
wasn't interested in sometime as pretty as a show plane.

The problem is the wood spar. Although they may still be very strong,
the FAA has an AD that says if there are any nails backing out or if
any part of the spar is rubbing on a rib, the spar is unairworthy. It
is very challenging to find a Champ that does not have one of those
spar problems. Most people seem to agree that it doesn't make the plane
unsafe to fly. It does, however, require finding an IA willing to sign
annuals off on a plane that doesn't meet the AD requirements. A full
spar job seems run between $10K-$12K.

-Robert

[nrp]

Aeronca Sedans have all-aluminum wings (and spars) and fabric/steel
frame fuselages and control surfaces. Cessna went the opposite way
with the competitive C-170 although both used the same 6 cyl 145 Hp
Continental engine. The Sedans were slower. A lot of them were put on
floats and retrofitted with 180 Hp Lycomings.

I rebuilt & flew 1/4 of one on floats with the Continental 38 years
ago. It was a lot of fun, but it gave my wife a headache riding in it
- as soon as we got engaged.

[JAX]

Thanks for the info. Any idea how much they've been selling for? All
I can find on the market now is one on floats.

[nrp]

I have not followed the 15AC market for years & don't know what they go
for now days.

Another search thought is to check the condition and type of fuel
tanks. They had fuel cells originally & I don't know the replacement
situation. We put in new cells 38 years ago for a measly $250 each,
which would mean about $2500 each now.

I understood some put in metal tanks as the fuel cells were no longer
available.

[JAX]

Another thought is the engine. How does the Continental hold up over
the long term, and are there any engine upgrades to look for besides
the Franklin?


nrp wrote:
> I have not followed the 15AC market for years & don't know what they go
> for now days.
>
> Another search thought is to check the condition and type of fuel
> tanks. They had fuel cells originally & I don't know the replacement
> situation. We put in new cells 38 years ago for a measly $250 each,
> which would mean about $2500 each now.
>
> I understood some put in metal tanks as the fuel cells were no longer
> available.

[[email protected]]

>The problem is the wood spar. Although they may >still be very strong,
>the FAA has an AD that says if there are any nails >backing out or if
>any part of the spar is rubbing on a rib, the spar is >unairworthy. It
>is very challenging to find a Champ that does not >have one of those
>spar problems. Most people seem to agree that it >doesn't make the plane
>unsafe to fly.

It's more than just nails coming loose. The wood shrinks across
its width with age, and as the aluminum rib doesn't shrink, the nails
force the wood's grain apart and creates lengthwise cracks and the
spar's shear strength suffers. As the ribs move up and down, they
elongate those nail holes and the spar begins to crack vertically.
Additionally, the mechanics who do the AD properly have been finding
cracks in the spars at both the strut and butt attach points, both
causes for real concern. We rebuilt a pair of Champ wings some years
ago, long before the AD, and found extensive cracking across the grain
of the spars through the nail holes as described by a Service Alert. It
was only detectable when we had the wing all apart and bent the spars a
bit when the cracks appeared. Scared us pretty good; we replaced the
spars.

Dan