Aircraft model
CHAMPION 7GCBC
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Citabria 7GCBC adds flaps and a longer wing to the 150 hp airframe, which transforms it from a training aeroplane into a genuinely useful short-field machine. It climbs at over 1,100 fpm and gets off the ground in a few hundred feet, which is why it is popular for backcountry flying, glider towing and float operation as well as aerobatic training.
It is the pick of the Champion-era Citabrias for most buyers. The caveat is structural and it is the family's: wooden wing spars with a documented cracking history and inspection requirements that must be verified, which is the single most important question on any Champion or Bellanca-built aircraft in this line. Later American Champion aircraft have metal spars and sell at a premium partly because of it. Fabric is the dominant lifetime cost.
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Put CHAMPION 7GCBC side by side with up to two other models.
- CHAMPION 7GCBC
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 | 1965 |
| Production end | 1970 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 100 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 500 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 | 530 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 320 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,650 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,120 lb |
| Usable fuel | 35 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 8.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $50,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $185,000 |
| 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 | 252 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 144 |
| Median year built | 1969.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 9 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 62.51 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 55.562 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 36 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 253 |
| Airworthiness directives | 4 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 144 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 144 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 144 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 1 of 101 |
| Severity | 3.9 of 102 |
| Access | 7.3 of 103 |
| Support | 9.5 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 7.4 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 29.1 out of 506 |
These record scores treat CHAMPION 7GCBC as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 487 aircraft registered under BELLANCA; includes 232 aircraft registered under AMERICAN CHAMPION AIRCRAFT. 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.