Range Map

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1

Tank-dry, where fuel runs out at catalogue's stored cruise burn.

Excludes reserves: range beyond the dashed circle requires a leaner cruise than what we store. Great-circle, still air, book cruise. Estimates only: always verify against the POH.

Payload vs. Range

Occupants:

Fuel on board

Cargo

nm

Range

Cargo is additional payload after occupants and baggage.
full tanks
Available Range / nm
Mission capable. This load flies with full fuel.
Fuel reduced by . left aboard for nm range.
Over max payload by . At this load it cannot lift a single occupant.

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Mission Profile

MOSAIC Eligible
Used market Only available used
74
KTAS
Cruise Speed
175
nm
Max Range
12,500
ft
Service Ceiling
2
Occupants
402
lbs
Wet Payload
Endorsements & ratings:
  • Tailwheel
Aeronca 7AC Champion (G-BPGK). Photo: Adrian Pingstone, public domain.
Aeronca 7AC Champion (G-BPGK). Photo: Adrian Pingstone, public domain.

Estimated Ownership Costs

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About the Aeronca 7AC Champion

Type certificated 1945 Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet

Overview

The Aeronca 7AC Champion (the Champ) is a 65-horsepower taildragger from 1945: fabric over a welded steel tube frame, a high wing overhead, two seats one behind the other, and a wooden propeller you start by swinging. Aeronca built thousands of them in Middletown, Ohio for the flood of students who learned to fly on the GI Bill, and eighty years on it is still one of the cheapest ways to own an aircraft.

Inside Aeronca’s own line, the Champ is the tandem trainer alongside the side-by-side 11 Chief. The Citabria grew out of its airframe: the aerobatic 7-series still lives on the Champ’s type certificate. Buyers may cross-shop a Champ against the Piper J-3 Cub: the Cub has the name and the deeper parts market; the Champ has the view.

Key Features for GA Buyers

  • You fly it from the front seat. The single most consequential difference between the Champ and the Cub, and the reason instructors reach for it: forward visibility on the ground, in the climb, and in the flare, where a tailwheel pilot needs it most.
  • Cheap in the way old aircrafts are supposed to be cheap. Around $66 an hour in variable-direct cost, 4.5 gallons of avgas, and a 65 hp Continental with an 1,800-hour TBO that a field shop can still overhaul without a specialist.
  • Sport Pilot eligible. 1,220 lb gross and a 33-knot clean stall put it inside the legacy light-sport limits: flyable on a driver’s licence, with no medical certificate.
  • Forgiving where it counts. Light wing loading and an honest stall make it a natural grass-strip and slow-flight aircraft: the qualities that made it a trainer are the ones that make it a good first taildragger.

Trade-offs

  • Sixty-five horsepower. 74 knots of cruise, 175 nm of range on 13 gallons, and 480 lb of useful load: two adults, full fuel, and very little else. On a warm day at altitude the climb is a planning item, not a footnote.
  • Fabric, wood and paperwork. The airframe wants a recover reserve, the wooden wing spars want inspecting, and original A-65 parts are less available than the Continental and Lycoming conversions many Champs now fly behind. A converted Champ may differ from the numbers on this page: confirm what you are buying.
  • No electrical system as built. No starter, no radio, hand-prop to start. For some buyers that is the entire point; for anyone who wants a panel, it is the end of the conversation.

See Also

  • Aeronca 11 Chief – the side-by-side sibling on the same 65 hp engine: sit beside your passenger instead of ahead of them. Compare
  • Piper J-3 Cub – the rival, and the benchmark: better name, deeper market, and you solo it from the back. Compare
  • Taylorcraft BC – the same era, side by side and slightly quicker on the same power, in a tighter cabin. Compare
  • Luscombe 8 – the all-metal answer: no fabric to replace, crisper handling, a higher bill when something bends. Compare
  • American Champion 7GCAA Citabria – what the Champ became: same certificate, more power, and cleared to loop and roll. Compare

Technical Specifications

Dimensions & Weights

Wingspan 35 ft
Height
7 ft
Length
22 ft
Parking area (ft²2)
1,192 ft²
Max Takeoff Weight
Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 1,220 lbs
Max Landing Weight
1,220 lbs
Useful Load
480 lbs
Fuel Capacity
Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 13 gal

Performance

Cruise Speed
Source: third-party reference 74 KTAS
Never-Exceed (VNE)
Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 112 KIAS
Max Structural Cruise (VNO)
Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 83 KIAS
Approach Speed
43 KIAS
Stall, Clean (VS1)
Source: third-party reference 33 KIAS
Range
Source: third-party reference 175 NM
Service Ceiling
Source: third-party reference 12,500 ft
Rate of Climb
370 fpm
Takeoff over 50 ft obstacle
632 ft
Landing over 50 ft obstacle
885 ft

Engine

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Sources

Where the figures on this page come from. Aeronca 7AC Champion specifications are traced to published references; estimated values are flagged inline next to the figure.

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