Aircraft model
AERONCA 7DC
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 7DC is the Champ with the 85 hp Continental C-85, sold as the civil equivalent of the military 7BCM. The extra twenty horsepower over a 7AC is the most worthwhile improvement the airframe ever received: climb goes from leisurely to adequate and the aeroplane will carry two adults without argument.
It is otherwise the familiar tandem two-seat fabric taildragger, soloed from the front seat, with excellent visibility and no pretensions to being transport. Seventy-eight knots is a walking pace into any wind. The dominant cost is the fabric, whose age should be established before anything else, and corrosion in the steel tube structure beneath. Many aircraft qualify as light sport, which supports values. Production was brief so the fleet is small compared with the 7AC.
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental C-85-12 |
| Horsepower | 85 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1948 |
| Production end | 1949 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 78 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 300 nm |
| Service ceiling | 13,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 600 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 38 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 500 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 422 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,300 lb |
| Empty weight | 800 lb |
| Usable fuel | 13 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 4.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $25,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $50,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $22,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $32,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 259 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 121 |
| Median year built | 1946.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 24.79 per 1,000 active · base 121 active |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 24.79 per 1,000 active · base 121 active |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 24 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 19.83 per 100 active · base 121 active |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
Peer scores
A score runs from 0 to 10 within the model's peer class: a position, not a grade, and the six are never added together.
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | — · class median 25 · 181 models in class |
| Severity | — · class median 5 |
| Access | 9.8 of 10 · class median 987 |
| Support | 6.8 of 10 · class median 72 |
| Liquidity | 4.6 of 10 · class median 20.59 |