Aeronca-Bellanca History Page 6

A history of the Aeronca, Bellanca, American Champion Family of Aircraft

By Tom Beamer

Page 1 - Aeronca Beginnings

Page 2 - Aeronca/Champion/Bellanca-Champion/American Champion Models

Page 3 - Early Aircraft Designations

Page 4 - The Citabria Era Designations

Page 5 - The 8 Series

Page 6 - And…..

Page 7 - Structure (Fuselage and Wings)

And…………………….

Champion 402 Lancer, designed for the multi-engine training market, with a pair of 100 hp Continentals, fixed pitch props, and fixed landing gear, minimum sink rate was the best one could achieve during one engine out training. The fabric covered Lancer was also the first of the tandem line with metal spars. The Lancer had a control wheel in the front since the idea was to teach future professional pilots and a stick in the rear, possibly a unique control arrangement.

Lancer-402 twin engine tied down on ramp

Champion Lancer 402

Lancer-402 Tied down on a ramp

Champion Lancer 402

Lancer-402 interior showing seats

Champion Lancer 402 – Interior

Lancer-402 interior showing the engine controls

Champion Lancer 402 – Interior

Lancer-402 interior showing the main controls with a yoke rather than a stick

Champion Lancer 402 - Interior

Known Experimental Models

1958, Commuter, a two place, fabric covered, welded steel tube, helicopter.
1966, Champion was touring the Airshow circuit with a single seat aircraft that had no rear seat or windows and had all of the fuel in a rear seat area tank, this aircraft also had an oversize rudder and spring steel gear, which was still two years away from introduction to production aircraft. As a young 7AC instructor I remember inspecting this very high-performance airplane very closely, remember that even the 7ECA was high performance when you spent your day in the back seat of a 7AC struggling for altitude at 300-500 fpm.
1968, Citabria Pro, essentially an open cockpit 7KCAB with 180 hp, factory documents initially refer to it as the 9KCAB but it is then changed to 8KCAB until that is later reassigned to the Decathlon. It initially flew with the front cockpit covered over but was later reconfigured as a two-holer. Great looking airplane that we drooled over at the time but it’s easy to understand that there will always be a limited market for an open cockpit, particularly if you’ve ever tried to operate one on an annual basis.

Citabria-Pro running up on grass

Bellanca Citabria Pro

1973, Bellanca Trainer, a tri-cycle gear development of the 11 series Chief, 100 hp, swept vertical fin, squared and slight swept horizontal stabilizer and elevator, modern looking fiberglass cowl, rear window, spring steel gear.

Bellanca Experimental Aerobatic

Aeronca LB