Elegant simplicity

[vintageair]

As a new Champ owner I'm growing fond of the way the thing is put together. Okay, maybe it's not "fast" but it sure is nice how you can do just about any basic service on the engine like oil change, mag timing or R&R plugs without removing the cowling. Heck, for an oil change you don't even need a quick drain or a hose, the oil just drains onto the lower cowl and runs into a bucket off the lip like a well engineered system.

As I started my first extensive annual inspection the first thing I did was pull the seats and floorboards. Well it was pretty obvious that the floorboards hadn't been pulled up for donkeys years. The old carpet was rotten and the boards had, over the years been hacked into about at least eight different pieces that fit together with differing subtlety. So I had to spend a weekend getting intimate with a 4 by 8 sheet of quarter inch plywood to get back on track. As I pondered my options I noted those two bolts that hold the bottom of the boot cowl together.

My Lord,when I opened that access I sat in awe. Until the full restoration commences I will never need to pull those floorboards again!

I'm a full fledged convert - used to be a Cub guy, now I'm a Champ guy

[joea]

Good to hear that you are "becoming one" with the airplane. They really are reasonable to work with and as you get more familiar with the airplane it gets even better.

Joe A

[CptKelly]

A "Champ Guy", rather than a "Cub Guy". I can really relate to that comment. I have a "Cub" type, and its 1) harder to enter/exit, 2) not nearly as comfortable and roomy 3) uses a lot more fuel and 4) actually is not much faster. Considering we are comparing a 85/0200 to a XP-360 engine, that's pretty good for the Champ. My Cub doesn't get much use any more. I'd sell it if it weren't experimental, however, as they say, it "ain't eating nothing".


Mike

[vintageair]

I still love Cubs but the fact is you could hang a 260 horse engine on one and you'd still be going 90 mph. People used to ask me if you could fly a J3 solo from the front seat and my reply was always - "have you ever BEEN in the front seat of a J3?" I swear in all these years I don't know if I've ever seen someone get up there the same way twice. I myself have only been up there a couple of times. It's not the most pleasant place to be.

I've got plenty of Citabria hours on the books so I appreciate the ease of entry and egress that the Champ provides. But this was my first experience with an actual Champ with the bubble shaped windshield. My gosh, it's like your sitting out in the open, sometimes I could almost swear there's no glass there at all.

I'm finishing up the annual today, putting in the new floorboards, installing a Garmin 296 and I ordered a radio. I was looking at a few options but finally decided on a Collins 251 as it will fit perfectly in the right side of the panel where there's an empty 3 inch hole. It'll probably throw my compass out of wack but I'll have that magenta line on the Garmin to make up for it (ha, ha)

I know - sorry assed gps lackey....

[Mnflyer]

Hi Vintage, you are so right the Champ is a great airplane, I have never been a J-3 fan but the Super Cub I like I owned one for 25+ years a 150 hp and I liked the TO and climb and I like the SC trim system but the Champ is soooo easy to see over the nose, and vis inflight is outstanding the room when sitting in the Champ and as you have noted the ease of ingress and egress. Its just an all around great flying airplane and I like the 0-220 in mine.
I have a simple Garmin GPS V in mine and I look at the compass bar on it more than the Vert card compass.

[CptKelly]

Mnflyer:
What's a 0-220?
I too like the take off and climb of a supercub. My "SC" is a early (standard width) Smith Kit, before they offered the 4" wider fuselage. It is the same width as a J3 ( I measured it). Its pretty tight inside, but you can fly it from the front seat. My cub will take off in 150 feet, anytime you want, and that is not pushing it. This cub is fairly light at 1143 pounds. It climbs at 45mph at about a 45 degree angle. At 60mph, it shows 1500'/min on the vsi. It cruises around 105-110, but that's with 180hp. Our 85-0200 Champ cruises nearly that fast, at about 95-100mph. Cub now has 134 hours TTAE on it, and that's not much considering it is 3-4 years old. We now have about 45 hours on the Champ's new engine, to include the trip to Middletown. I am flying the L-19 more than anything else. I am really partial to L-19's, and have been for decades.
Its a little hard to get in and get out, but it sure is comfortable, and performs well too. Enough rambling.

Mike

[Mnflyer]

Hi Mike a 0-220 is kind of a cross between a 0-200 flat for and Cont r-220 .
Ok so its really an 0-200