Aeronca Champion
 Aeronca Champion. Photo: Arpingstone, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
| |
| Make | Aeronca |
|---|---|
| Model | Aeronca Champion |
| Type | Light utility aircraft / trainer |
| Country |  United States
|
| First flight | April 29, 1944 |
| Built | 1946–1951, 2007–2018 |
| Status | Production completed |
| Number built | more than 10,000, all manufacturers and variants, (over 7,200 Aeronca 7AC Champion, 1945–1948) |
| Registered in the US | 2,782 (FAA register, October 30, 2026) |
| Seats | one, one passenger |
| Engine | Continental A65-8, 65 hp |
| Cruise speed | 85 mph (7AC) |
| Range | 270 mi (7AC) |
| Service ceiling | 12,500 ft (7AC) |
| Max weight | 1,220 lb (7AC) |
| Developed from | Aeronca L-3, Aeronca T, Aeronca Defender, Aeronca 50 Chief |
| More aircraft · For sale | |
The Aeronca Champion, the Model 7 known as the "Champ" or "Airknocker", is a two-seat, single-engine, high-wing airplane with tailwheel landing gear and seats one behind the other. It was designed for flight training and personal flying, specifically to compete with the Piper J-3 Cub, and entered production in the United States in 1945, becoming one of the most popular and longest-built light airplanes in the world.[1] In the U.S. there are 2,782 Champs with a valid registration, 1,983 of them the original 7AC.[2]
History
The Champ first flew in 1944. As a low-cost postwar rival to the Cub, it was popular with flight schools training thousands of returning World War II veterans under the G.I. Bill. The original 7AC sold by the thousands, peaking in 1946; in 1946 and 1947 Aeronca built an average of 30 light airplanes a day, at one point 50.[1]
Like its rivals it has a fuselage and tail of welded metal tube, a small piston engine and a tailwheel. The 7AC used a 65 hp Continental A-65-8.[1]
After Aeronca, the Champ was revived by the Champion Aircraft Company in the 1950s and 1960s, by Bellanca in the 1960s and 1970s, and by American Champion Aircraft in the early 2000s. It returned to production in 2007 for the new light-sport category and was discontinued by mid-2019.[1] The aerobatic Citabria and Decathlon grew from it.[1]
Registered in the United States
The FAA register lists 2,782 of these airplanes with a valid U.S. registration. Here they are by the model name the FAA uses.[2]
| FAA model name | Registered |
|---|---|
| 7AC | 1,983 |
| 7EC | 203 |
| 7BCM | 192 |
| 7FC | 166 |
| 7DC | 128 |
| 7CCM | 110 |
Specifications (7AC)
| Item | 7AC |
|---|---|
| Crew | one |
| Passengers / capacity | one passenger |
| Length | 21 ft 6 in |
| Wingspan | 35 ft |
| Empty weight | 740 lb |
| Maximum takeoff weight | 1,220 lb |
| Fuel | 13 u.s.gal |
| Engine | Continental A65-8, 65 hp (four cylinder, horizontally opposed piston aircraft engine) |
| Propeller | fixed pitch, wooden |
| Maximum speed | 95 mph |
| Cruise speed | 85 mph |
| Stall speed | 38 mph |
| Never-exceed speed | 129 mph |
| Range | 270 mi |
| Service ceiling | 12,500 ft |
| Rate of climb | 370 ft/min |
Figures as given in the Wikipedia article and its sources.[1]
Photos
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Champion Tri-Traveller at the Canadian Museum of Flight on 23 July 1988. Photo: Ahunt, Public domain -
Aeronca Champion. Photo: Arpingstone, Public domain -
Aeronca Champion. Photo: Arpingstone, Public domain -
Aeronca Champion. Photo: Ahunt at English Wikipedia, Public domain -
Aeronca Champion. Photo: Ahunt at English Wikipedia, Public domain -
Aeronca Champion. Photo: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 -
1945 Aeronca 7DC C/N 7AC-409. Photo: Armchair Aviator's, CC BY 2.0 -
Aeronca 7FC. Photo: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0
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All photos are from Wikimedia Commons; click a photo for its full credit and license.
Buying a Aeronca Champion
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Wikipedia, "Aeronca Champion", read November 1, 2026. Airplane Wiki's text is written in its own words; facts are checked against this article and its sources.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Federal Aviation Administration, Releasable Aircraft Database, file dated October 30, 2026. Valid registrations of fixed-wing airplanes whose FAA maker and model names belong to this family. Airplane Wiki uses only counts from this file, never owner names or addresses.