Aeronca Champ
It’s been a lot of years since I piloted one of these. It’s an Aeronca Champion or ‘Champ’ for short. These were built after the second world war and were in direct competition with the Piper J-3 Cub. I have flown and instructed in both types and, believe me, they are a lot of fun to fly.
Image: Aeronca Champion
We were shopping in a strip mall near Torrance Zamperini Field when this nicely painted Champ flew over us on a short approach to runway two-niner left. A wave of nostalgia went through me as it sent me back in time to the days of dead reckoning, seat-of-the-pants, plus ‘needle, ball and airspeed‘ flying.
2 Responses to “Aeronca Champ”
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drjim on 19 Apr 2010 at 1032 #
Ahhh…an “Air Knocker”!
Way back when I was a junior birdman, one of my buddies took me up in a Champ his Dad owned. After we got up to around 2500′ or so, I asked him why it had a “G-Meter” on the instrument panel.
WHAM!
Shallow dive, and then an *Instant* loop in response to my question.
Sure was a neat little airplane…..
Hey, have you ever seen the “One-Six Right” video about Van Nuys airport? Stunning video!
http://www.terwilligerproductions.com/onesixright/
Minstrel on 20 Apr 2010 at 1818 #
DrJim - thanks for the mention on your blog. I am going to acquire the One Six Right DVD one of these days. reading through the reviews, it appears that I know several of the people interviewed or appearing in the film. I don’t know why the production missed my attention all these years.
I instructed at Van Nuys in the seventies - it should be interesting.