Forgot to put descriptions of the pictures, but they are pretty self explainitory. We went with 6x8's for tires. Those are 6x8's on it now, but they are borrowed from another aircraft in the shop.

The fabric was excellent on the wings and fuselage with the exception of a bad paint job and some hail damage. We put new fabric on the everything else. The project came with new hardware for everything in the airframe and a new tailwheel. We have to put some interior in next. It will be light and simple.

I am hoing to have the wings ready to paint in 3 weeks, maybe less if the weather turns bad.

D.

David,

Looks GREAT!! I like the paint scheme as well. Champs are such great honest little flying machines and totally underrated in my opinion. I saw a 7AC at OSH year before last which won an award, and it was drop dead gorgeous, with cream and dark green paint, the green in scallops like your tail, and the wing leading edges green scalloped. All the green had a fine red line to contrast it. Great little airplane.

Which engine do you have, and what model is this?

MTV

Thanks. It has been a lot of work, and more to come. This is a 1946 7AC with a 75 HP engine, which is just the 65 HP with a different carb on it, I'm told.
I can't wait to fly it. It is going up for sale as soon as it is done and I plan to fly it for as many hours as I can before it sells, even if that means flying it 20 hours a week for a few weeks. The point of this project is not really for me to own a nice Champ, but for me and my partner in the Champ to learn from the other partner (there are 3 of us) how to buy airplanes that have been taken apart by well meaning owners, only to be sold to people like us 10 years later after not much work went into it. In other words, how to make nice airplanes out of broken airplanes so we can fly for free (sort of)
I know it is a bad market for planes, but little stuff like Champs seem to sell quick, and for near the asking price. It is LSA too, so that will help.

The sweetest plane I've ever flown was a '46 Champ that was all stock.......
Of course the list of planes I have flown is NOT anything like Budd Davisson's, either!

lc

PS http://airbum.com/ Is Budd's web site and somewhere in there he reviews all the MANY planes he has flown....

I was flying a sweet 7EC until some bozo wrecked it into a house and destroyed it. Wonderful little airplane.

Zane wrote:I was flying a sweet 7EC until some bozo wrecked it into a house and destroyed it. Wonderful little airplane.

I just got a direct mail solicitation for an aviation safety magazine and that plane was on the front of it. Recently a friend from Portland asked if hitting a house was a concern when flying. There is just so many ways to answer that question. I went with "not really, unless I am trying to land on a roof top"

Progress yesterday and today included stripping more parts, making the wheels pretty for when the brown guy brings the new 8x6's, and deciding if we should try to make our panel pretty, or buy a new panel and make it pretty. Hopefully we we have the headliner in and a good start on the rest of the interior next week.

Anyone have a good source for really nice foam? We do not want the seats too stuffed, but really want some comfortable foam. We are going to shape it for lateral support and some lumbar support.

I know some Aeronca forum guys cringe at doing anything other than a 100% original restoration, but we really would rather make it a nice airplane that anyone would want to fly, that has sensible updates, rather than a weird yellow and orange rattle trap with crappy seats.


D.

Go with Confor Foam cushions. That's what Oregon Aero uses, with built up layers and bolsters to fit. Here's one link:
http://www.aviationsupplyonline.com/cus ... pid=548924

There are a number of suppliers. Stuff's not cheap, but it is VERY comfortable. I used it on my airplane's seats and on my motorcycle seat.

MTV

X2 on the Confor foam. Best $100 I ever spent on my airplane. You buy different sizes, shapes, and densities. They are a mom and pop type business and are very nice to deal with. I just called them up and told them exactly what I wanted to do and my application and they told me what the best combination would be. I just took the foam and my seats to a local upholstery shop and had them replace the old 20 year old yellow foam with that stuff.

Thanks for the tip on the Conform foam. It looks like what I need. We have mad skills up here in Chelan and are able to make the interior ourselves, and do a better job than a lot of shops that specialize in it.
I may have to get some of that for 2 of my motorcycles. The KTM is a torture device, and I have worn my Ducati Multistrada seat out.

D.

Another place selling essentially the same product is :http://seatfoam.com/text/prod01.htm
This company is run by Jim Fix, I purchased his foam to put in my Champ seats. I bought it from him while at Oshkosh. He and his wife are the nice older couple situated in one of the bigger hangars selling their foam. Nice and honest couple that have been in the business for quite some time.