PG_Raptor 0 Posted April 8, 2004 "As darkness fell on December 26, 2001, a 1946 Aeronca Champion took off from a small airstrip near Petaluma, California. The tandem two-seater rose above the green hills of the Coast Ranges and spent more than an hour circling over vineyards, cattle ranches, and Christmas-lit towns. It was a pleasant spree, with only one discordant note: The airplane had no pilot. Paul Clary III had started the Champion around 4:30 p.m., then checked under the cowling, fearing he had flooded the engine. That’s when the airplane made its move. It snapped the tiedowns and broke free, leaving its Clary behind. The aircraft wound up crashing in uninhabited woodland 35 miles from the runway, having burned nearly 15 gallons of fuel. Witnesses estimate it reached an altitude of 5,000 feet. The incident rated little more than a footnote, even in the Northern California press. It should have brought a clarion call to action. For this was only the most recent example of the sinister and unpredictable behavior of the Aeronca Champion, also known as the 7AC. Witness: * In 1987, a Champion flew for 65 miles in rural New York before smashing into a poplar tree. The pilot had clung desperately to the cockpit door, finally releasing his grip just prior to takeoff. * 1990: A Champion described six circles on the grounds of a small Florida airport, with its pilot wedged halfway inside the cockpit. He jumped free moments before the airplane obliterated a soda machine. “I thought it was going to kill me,” he said. *1993: A Champion rolled over a wheel chock in Portsmouth, Ohio, and made a beeline for a pair of trucks. The pilot grabbed a wing strut and redirected the airplane into a hangar door. *1995: A Champion taxied across a ramp in Smoketown, Pennsylvania, before colliding with a parked airplane. The pilot’s wife was a captive passenger in the front seat. *1997: A Champion announced its intentions with an insolent backfire, then took off from Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio. It narrowly avoided two airplanes and flew for one hour 48 minutes—90 miles—before diving into a bean field. *1998: A Champion unsuccessfully attempted to liberate itself from an airport in Sheridan, Arkansas, mashing itself in some trees. This incident also involved a spousal hostage." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CowboyTodd41 133 Posted April 8, 2004 I love to fly Champs, infact that's what I'm earning my license in, but maybe I'll reconsider Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Fates 63 Posted April 8, 2004 The Champ is an great machine...but it's mindless without a pilot...and the pilot is mindless to NOT have someone inside on the brakes when it's hand-propped. I have about 20-30 hours flying Champs...and it was the first small plane my wife has ever flown in... I guessed I missed my spousal hostage opportunity....damn! <C> Fates Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
