Bellanca 7ACA
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 7ACA is Bellanca's 1971-72 budget revival of the Aeronca Champ on the Champ's own type certificate, with a 60 hp two-cylinder Franklin 2A-120 in place of the Continental A-65, 1,220 lb gross, 13 gallons of fuel and two tandem seats. It cruises at about 85 mph and climbs at 370 fpm.
It flies like a Champ because it is one, and the catch is entirely the engine: the two-cylinder Franklin is an orphan with no factory behind it, so parts, overhaul and even propeller choice (the TCDS specifies a 58.5-60 inch wood prop) are a specialist's problem, and the 60 hp makes it the slowest-climbing Champ there is. Many 7ACAs have been converted to a Continental A-65 or C-85, which changes the aeroplane and the paperwork; establish which engine is fitted and under what approval. The airframe side is well supported through the Champ community and American Champion. Only about 70 were built and no current listing was found.
Variants of the Aeronca / Champion 7-series Champ
- 7AC · 1945 · 1,875 active
- 7AC-CONV · 1945 · 6 active
- 7AC/BCM CONV · 1945 · 1 active
- 7BCM · 1947 · 175 active
- 7BCM/CONV · 1947 · 5 active
- 7CCM · 1948 · 91 active
- 7DC · 1948 · 121 active
- 7DC-CONV · 1948 · 14 active
- 7EC CONV · 1950 · 3 active
- Aeronca 7AC · 1954 · 58 active
- 7EC · 1958 · 157 active
- 7EC(CONV) · 1958 · 3 active
- 7FC · 1958 · 164 active
- 7GC · 1959 · 37 active
- 7GCB · 1962 · 55 active
- 7GCBA · 1962 · 2 active
- 7GCA · 1965 · 2 active
- 7KC · 1968 · 1 active
- 7ACA · 1971 · 44 active · this page
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Partial: 18.7 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)
Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
Compare with…
Put Bellanca 7ACA side by side with up to three other models.
- Bellanca 7ACA
Watch this model
One email a day if anything changes: new ADs and NTSB records.
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Franklin 2A-120A or 2A-120B |
| Horsepower | 60 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1971 |
| Production end | 1972 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise (75 % power) | 74 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range (75 %, standard fuel, 30-min reserve) | 235 nm |
| Service ceiling | 12,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 370 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 33 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 480 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,220 lb |
| Empty weight | 740 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Estimated cost to own
An estimate, not a quote. Change the inputs to match how you would fly it. Defaults are for a single-engine piston, 1–2 seats.
| Maintenance reserve | hourly | $1,500/yr | |
| Insurance | fixed | $1,400/yr | |
| Annual inspection | fixed | $1,500/yr | |
| Hangar | fixed | $6,000/yr | |
| Rental rate, wet | for comparison |
No fuel burn is on record for this model, so fuel is not included.
No TBO or overhaul cost is on record for this model, so the engine reserve is not included.
How these estimates are built. Fuel = this model's typical burn x the national average price from AirNav's Fuel Price Report (100LL $7.41, Jet A $7.66 per gallon, 5 Oct 2026; your airport may differ by $2 or more). Engine reserve = typical overhaul cost / TBO for this engine. The remaining lines are class-level defaults, not quotes for this aircraft: annual inspection is the base inspection fee (findings are counted in the per-hour maintenance line); insurance assumes an instrument-rated owner with time in type and a $1M liability limit - less experienced pilots commonly pay 1.5-2x; hangar and tie-down are national mid-tier figures, with rural and metro options; the rental rate is a 2026 flight-school rate for a comparable aircraft, including fuel. Twin and turboprop maintenance defaults are estimates, not published figures. Sources: AirNav, BWI Aviation Insurance (2019-2026), Flying (May 2026), Savvy Aviation, American Flight Schools, published airport rate sheets. Every default is editable - change any number to match your situation. Depreciation, taxes, financing and major upgrades are not included. Depreciation is not included. An estimate, not a quote.
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 69 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 44 |
| Median year built | 1971 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 68.18 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 68.18 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 11 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 25 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 2 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 44 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 44 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 44 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 8.2 of 103 |
| Support | 3.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 7.3 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | Partial: 18.7 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)6 |
These record scores treat Bellanca 7ACA as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes the record of aircraft once registered under CHAMPION. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 36.69 · 321 models in class.
- Severity: class median 13.04.
- Access: class median 1,000.
- Support: class median 77.5.
- Liquidity: class median 20.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 8 · scores Sep 30