New Project 7BCM

[DELCOM]

Well..... I had so much fun restoring my 7AC conv a few years ago that I thought it would be fun to do another. I just purchased a 1946 Aeronca 7 BCM. It was converted in 1949 to a BCM under service letter #13. The guy I bought it from just last fall had the wings completly restored, new spars,new ribs, new leading and trailing edges, epoxy primed all the internal parts, new cables, and covered in ceconite,with Randolfs thru finish creme white. It does in fact have a -12 engine and not the -8 called for in the servive letter. I'm thinking the second restoration will be allot easier than the first, as I feel that I learned allot from the first one.
Since learning to fly my first Champ I have over 300 hours and 1,300 landings. I recently obtained a new hangar at Columbia Ca. O22 and my hangar faces the grass strip. Perfect setup in my opinion.
I could not have completed the first restoration without the vast knowledge obtained from the users of this site, and for that I'm very thankful.
The plan for the new Champ is to make it as light as possible and keep the creature comforts to a bare minimun.

Del

[MikeB]

Del,
Keep us informed and post pictures. Your last one was a beauty!

I'm getting the itch again too (but I already have two planes and one small hangar).

Mike

[Paul Agaliotis]

Del,
Great to see you've picked up another plane. There are a lot worse habits you could have picked. Don't sweat the -8 and -12 thing. Continental considers them interchangeable.
Paul

[DELCOM]

Paul

You are so right about where a person can easily put time into the wrong things.
You know that we are not that far away from each other, we ought to get together and yak one of these days. One hangar down from me is Jay Carter.....says he knows you.
Red Sky was good to me. I stopped in one day asking for a ride and got one. This is before I finished my first plane and was dying to go up in a Champ. Had never flown before in one. You folks would'nt even take gas money from me! Been addicted since.

I think Thanks?

lol

Del

[Paul Agaliotis]

Del,
Thanks for the kind words. Years ago I looked at the state of vintage aircraft and pilots, and was shocked by the shrinking of both groups. I decided if I didn't act, I couldn't ask anyone else to. And in my deluded mind I think I made some headway.
It would be great to get together and look over your planes. The next time I head that way or you're in the Bay Area let's do it.
Yes, I know Jay. He is a great guy and professional pilot. With a flight school that teaches in tailwheels, your instructors will make or break you. When we were starting out we had a very big problem finding and keeping instructors. Jay was there for the bad times, and helped keep the business afloat, for this I will always be grateful. His son has started his career as an A&P, and from what I've seen he will be an`asset for the antique and vintage aircraft community.
Paul

[DELCOM]

Hi All

I know that you all love looking at photos so here are some I took this weekend of my progress on my 7BCM project.

Del

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c177/DELCOM/

[MikeB]

Del,
Thanks and keep them coming.

Mike

[DELCOM]

Hello to all

I have been busy on the new project and wanted to share some photos of my progress. Most of what you see here still is a work in progress but I knopw how much you guys love to see photos. Please feel free to comment because I'm probably not going to listen anyway Really....comments are always welcomed. Hope you enjoy them.

Del

[Richard Murray]

Del,

Very nice! Workmanship looks great!

Richard

[james gevay]

It looks great from here, simple and unclutered, just the way I like it.
Post a few more for us in the north country when you get a chance.