I came across an ad today for an Aeronca project. Not too far from me and the pic's don't look too bad. No FWF and a $7K asking price. The part that gives me pause is "converted from 7ac to 7ec then converted to 7gc per 337 dated 1987" including O290. I'm no expert in the FARs, but amending the TC with a 337 seems a bit "out there". The N number was visible in one of the photos - checked the FAA web site and it still shows Cont A&C65 series.

I don't think I'd want to go with an O290, but if there is a valid path from 7AC to 7GC, then an O320 might also be a possibility.

I'm obviously a long way from putting money down and I've got some pretty good resources in my local EAA chapter if it comes down to taking a serious look at this one. Just curious what the group's wisdom is about the advertised paper trail.

I think the 7EC and 7GC airframes are essentially the same. I had a 7GC which I put in an O-320, by field approval, making it a 7GCA equivalent. What I don't know is how you get from 7AC to 7EC - seems like it would be multiple structural changes, but you would have to look at the paperwork to see what was done.

7GC wrote:I think the 7EC and 7GC airframes are essentially the same. I had a 7GC which I put in an O-320, by field approval, making it a 7GCA equivalent. What I don't know is how you get from 7AC to 7EC - seems like it would be multiple structural changes, but you would have to look at the paperwork to see what was done.

Thanks for the quick feedback. I'll try sending the seller an email asking about the paperwork for the 7EC alteration.

It's amazing what you can find on the internet. The 7AC to 7EC conversion is detailed in Aeronca Service Letter 56. There may be other pathways, but this turned up in my search:

http://aeronca.celinaux.com/SL/SL-56.pdf

Not for the faint of heart. My understanding is that the Service Letters must be followed to the letter(no pun intended). If those parts listed are no longer available, then it could get dicey. The letter spells out specific fuselage tubes to be replaced by part number. If no longer available, I'm not sure that you could use "owner produced parts" or not.

I got a response back from the seller. Has paperwork for the conversion, but didn't know the details. Going to dig them out and let me know.

Papa Foxtrot wrote:I came across an ad today for an Aeronca project. Not too far from me and the pic's don't look too bad. No FWF and a $7K asking price. The part that gives me pause is "converted from 7ac to 7ec then converted to 7gc per 337 dated 1987" including O290. I'm no expert in the FARs, but amending the TC with a 337 seems a bit "out there". The N number was visible in one of the photos - checked the FAA web site and it still shows Cont A&C65 series.

I don't think I'd want to go with an O290, but if there is a valid path from 7AC to 7GC, then an O320 might also be a possibility.

I'm obviously a long way from putting money down and I've got some pretty good resources in my local EAA chapter if it comes down to taking a serious look at this one. Just curious what the group's wisdom is about the advertised paper trail.

Pretty sure they're on the same type certificate, which you can look up: A-759

My experience with doing a rebuild on a couple Aeroncas. You will always come out upside down on it (some Aeronca stuff is crazy expensive when compared to Cubs), more time than you thought, niche resale market.
Rebuilding Aeroncas is a true labor of love. I don’t see another one in my future however.

Spent some time last night reading SL56 and came to the conclusion that there is likely no way for me to confirm that every one of those line items was properly completed. I guess if there's an IA signature in the logs, I could take it on faith that it was done right. Not sure that I have that much faith. The aircraft has been recovered since the conversion which would further complicate inspection(especially pre-buy). Probably a good reason why it's been sitting for almost 20 years and I don't want to discover that on my dime.

Convinced myself to stop daydreaming and take a hard pass.

Thanks for all the feedback!