Aeronca Champ pre-purchase question

(Robert M. Gary) wrote
I've done this. Most of the Aeronca on the market are not airworthy.
There is an AD for the wood spars and very few of the Aeroncas I've
inspected on the makert actual met the AD requirements. Most have
nails coming out and rubs rubbing the spar. Most need to have the wing
rebuilt.

This is all true. Funny thing, I don't hear about them actually
failing in flight. There is a history to this AD, and the long and
short of it is that the factory pushed it through to increase revenue.

However, they will probably fly nicely, just good luck
getting them annualed by an honest IA.

Some IA's actually understand the airplane and the history of the AD,
and comply accordingly. Others are paperpushers. Choose carefully.

They are a joy to fly and its too bad there aren't many good ones on
the market. When you do find a good one the price tag seems to be in
the $40K range.

The onese for $40K aren't really for sale. $40K is what it takes to
start with a piece of junk picked up dirt cheap and then make a really
nice new airplane out of it. It's getting more expensive. When I
helped a friend do this, he was able to put in an electrical system on
a field approval. That's becoming impossible now.

Anyway, the guys trying to sell Champs for $40K know that's not likely
to happen, but they figure they will keep flying the plane until the
market catches up or until they put enough hours on it to justify
lowering the price. And who knows - someone may buy it. If you
actually find someone who really needs to sell, you can get a nice one
for under $30K.

Michael