Aircraft model
CHAMPION 7GC
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 7GC is the first of Champion's 150 hp Champs: the tandem two-seater given a Lycoming O-320 in place of the 65 to 90 horsepower the airframe had carried until then, which is the change that turned a docile trainer into the aeroplane that became the Citabria. Everything that followed — the 7GCA, 7GCB, 7GCAA and 7GCBC — is a development of it.
Ownership is small-aeroplane ownership. The engine is inexpensive to overhaul, the airframe is steel tube and fabric with the recover as the periodic bill, and corrosion under the covering is what ends them. Wing spar condition -- wood on the early aircraft, metal on later ones -- is the item a pre-purchase inspection exists for. The type community and the parts trade are both healthy. On a 150 hp Champ specifically, the engine is the value: an O-320 is cheap to overhaul by any standard and there is no shortage of shops. What varies across the GC-series letters is flaps, wing span and whether the aeroplane is certificated for aerobatics, so the suffix on the data plate matters more here than in most families.
Compare with…
Put CHAMPION 7GC side by side with up to two other models.
- CHAMPION 7GC
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-320-A2B |
| Horsepower | 150 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1959 |
| Production end | 1962 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 100 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 450 nm |
| Service ceiling | 17,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,120 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 45 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 610 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 454 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,650 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,040 lb |
| Usable fuel | 26 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 8.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $50,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $80,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $28,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $40,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 87 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 37 |
| Median year built | 1959.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 5 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 135.14 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 135.14 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 6 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 16.22 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 37 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 37 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 37 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 7 of 103 |
| Support | 3.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 2.7 of 105 |
These record scores treat CHAMPION 7GC as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 2 aircraft registered under AERONCA; includes the record of aircraft once registered under CHAMPION/HERRING. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 29.1 · 174 models in class.
- Severity: class median 9.09.
- Access: class median 974.
- Support: class median 81.
- Liquidity: class median 20.47.
- 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.