My Super Champ is going up for sale.

[WWhunter]

Well guys, after lots of thinking (actually I am still thinking) I have decided it might be time to sell my trusty steed. Too many planes and not enough time to fly them all. I recently purchased a RANS S-7 and have also gotten a set of Amphib floats for it. I had planned on trying to get the Bauman 1500 amphibs for the Champ but they are not available currently so I had to find another option. Having to drive 30 miles from my own strip just to fly the Champ on floats was too much. This S-7 should fulfill my mission.

This Champ is LSA COMPLIENT!!!!

Here is a link to a couple of pictures of my Champ. http://www.joea.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2641

The plane was totally rebuilt in 1993 and the logs I have are since 1972. The plane has some hangar rash but nothing bad. The AkBushWheels will NOT be sold with the plane. I will give the buyer a set of standard 6-6.00 tires.
The plane is heavily modified, here is a list of some of the mods I can think of right off hand:

Buzz Wagner STC conversion to 7AC-CONV with the installation of an O-235C2C engine with a rear mounted oil cooler. (115HP @2800/108HP @ 2600) 750 TTSN 350TSOH.
Engine was a new manufactured engine and was removed from a homebuilt aircraft thus requiring OH before being installed in a certified plane. This is a 2400 hr TBO engine. Engine has a starter but no charging system. Thus the requirement for a radio is not needed. I would leave it all summer at the lake without having to charge the battery. It had a solar tickle charger that maintained it well enough for starting.

Metal Sensenich prop.

Back windows converted to squared windows like later Citabria and the right side one opens for easy access to baggage compartment. Baggaage compartment also has a fish pole tube installed.

Entry door has been changed to all plexiglass with seaplane type hinge (top opening)

VG's and droop tips installed. Plane is next to impossible to stall if you keep on the rudders.

13 gallon wing tanks installed in each wing and the header tank is still installed with a total of 39 gallons of fuel!!

Whelen anti-collision strobe lights and nav lights.

Hooker Harness seatbelts.

Hanon-Wilson exhaust that will cook you out!!! Actually I unhook the scat hose in the summer due to the heat.

PK 1500 floats with dual rudders. Floats will be sold with the plane. This size float is harder to find then the typical EDO 1320's usually installed on Champs. They are also a better float since you are not 'under floated' when there are two people on board. Floats were repainted just before I purchased them.

EW on wheels is 891 lbs and GW is 1300. I will have to look at the W/B to see what the EW is on floats but I do remember I had more usefull load on floats than on tires. (20-30 lbs. more I think).

Again.....this is an LSA complient Champ that has super performance as far as Champs go. Annual is due on it and will be done as soon as I get back from Oshkosh. It will also be on floats.

Plane is located in North central MN near Itasca State Park. On floats it will be near Bemidji, MN.

I am asking $43,000. You could not build this plane for this price. I have not advertised it yet as I want the members here to get a chance at a great performing plane.
I will inform anyone that this is not a creampuff....it does have its hangar rash and a couple of small 'dollar' patches. The previous owner used it for fishing and hunting excursions to Canada and hauled his dog along.

Sad to see it go.
Keith

[Nathan K. Hammond]

Hate to see you part ways with the Champ, but I know how fun those little Rans can be. Greg Swindle has done a lot bringing that plane into the flying public eye.

nkh

[WWhunter]

Nate,
You are right...I really hate to see it go also and have not totally made up my mind about selling it. It is a highly modified Champ and would be very hard to replace, especially for a reasonable price.
I haven't been able to get much time in the Rans yet but the little bit of time in it so far I have found it to be a little rocket!!! Just seems sort of 'toyish' compared to what I normally fly. I bought a set of amphibs for it and hopefully can get them put on next summer. That way I can fly from my home strip and still visit all the lakes around here. That is one issue I have with the Champ....finding a place nearby to keep it when it is on floats. The place I normally keep it is 30 miles from home. I was hoping to get a set of the Baumann amphibs but the went tits up so no more of those floats will be available for the near future.
Keith

[peeto]

K-
Did you ever get official approval (337) for the PK's?

[WWhunter]

Yes, the issue with the floats was with the AI putting them on not wanting to do his job in the research department!!! He had the plane for 6 weeks and finally figured it out after I did all the kicking and dragging trying to show him that they were legal. I bought the plane with the floats on it and they had been approved and signed off earlier. He just was too hard headed to read. Needless to say I have not returned for any work at that place.

The plane isn't a show plane by any means but I highly doubt a person could build one similar cheaply.

I flew it this past weekend on floats and I keep asking myself why do I want to sell it. I took a friend up that normally flies a Super Cub and a Taylorcraft. He commented, "Damn this thing is a Cadilac compared to the SC." He was refering to the room inside compared to his normal rides.

Keith

[15A]

How about some pic's of that bird???

[WWhunter]

15A,
If you click on the link in my thread you'll see a couple of pictures of it. I am not that computer savy to post pictures. I sent the pictures to Joe and he posted them for me. Maybe I'll sit down one of these days and make an online photo album.
Keith

[15A]

DAAA....
That one went right over my head!
Nice looking bird!

[WWhunter]

Well guys, I posted it on Barnstormers and had 4 calls within a very short time. The first guy that came to look at it said he wants it. Offered a $10K deposit and the rest when he picks it up. Since the lakes are pretty much frozen over, it'll be spring before he picks it up.
I haven't accepted his offer yet. Almost (no, make that I AM) sad to see it go. It is a good honest plane and there is no way in heck that I could build another or find another like it for what I am asking. Yes, I am having second thoughts....but reality is telling me I can not keep and maintain 3 flying planes.
Keith

[joea]

Well hate to see you sell the plane but hope it goes to a good home!

If it does sell, please tell the new owner to drop on in here!

Joe A

[WWhunter]

Joe,
I sure will!! Heck I was gone awhile from here anyways. My computer got wiped out and I lost all my favorites. Had to try and remember all the sites I visited and the passwords I used. Took me awhile to find the ones I frequented the most. This site is one of the few I visited everyday....sometimes more than once a day.


Going to be back on the market again in a week or so when I get home.

Keith

[WWhunter]

Back in Minnesota. The plane was annualed a couple of weeks ago and has been test flown a couple of hours. Dang, I hate to sell it, she is such a sweet flying plane and it feels like a real plane compared to the RANS.
If anyone knows someone looking for a set of PK1500 floats I may sell them separately from the plane but will not sell the plane before the floats are sold. Had lots of interest in just the plane but do not want to sit on a set of floats that I need to keep stored.
PK 1500's with dual water rudders, they were freshly painted when I purchased them. $10K for the Floats rigged for a Champ. These have better buoyancy than the smaller EDO's so for you larger guys or guys wanting to carry a load these are the floats you want on your Champ.
Keith

[rkittine]

Keith,

So the plane with the PK1500s is still available? The Certiicated MGW with that STC or the engine is still 1300 lbs? Is it any different on the floats and if so, still within the 1430 pound max for LSA? I need to get 2 - 200 pound adults on in a reasonable tim / distance with at least a little fuel.

Thanks - Bob

[WWhunter]

Bob,

Yes sir, still available. I just listed it on Barnstormers and have guys wanting the plane without the floats but I do not want to sell it separately if I can help it. Too nice of a combination to separate them. It would take a LOT more money to build a similar plane with floats than I am selling it for, especially to have it still LSA. I had it sold to a guy last fall but due to an issue of mine I had to leave before we made the deal. He even offered a $10,000 deposit, I told him not to worry I trusted him. The lakes had iced over so he could not fly it home anyways. Well, my fault for not accepting the deposit. I wasn't able to get back to MN until mid-May and since I was taking to long he decided to buy a PA-12 on floats. I had the plane annualed and relisted it for sale.

Not sure what your question is but the plane is LSA commplient. The GW on wheels is 1300 and I think 1400 on floats. Will have to check the W&B. I do know the useful load on floats is a few pound more than on wheels if I remember correctly. Empty on wheels was 891 but can't remember what the empty was on floats. I have a 'feeling' it has been flown with two 'bigger' guys and plenty of fuel. I'm 175 and my son was over 200, plus fuel and we flew it all over northern MN when he was here. I have also flown it with my dad who is 200+. It does take a bit longer to get off with a load, but once she breaks water you don't notice the load at all. To be honest I have never really timed the TO as there are so many lakes around here and I have never worried about getting out.

The plane is hangared about 30 miles from my house. The hangar is on a grass strip that borders a lake. Listed as Moberg's Seaplane base in the seaplane directory.

As a PS.... I have a pretty good wife as she is telling me to keep it since it is paid for. It is also her favorite plane to ride in. But I have to face reality. It is too hard to fly and maintain 3 planes alone. When my son was still home for the summers he would fly also. Plus the help with putting it in and out of the water was needed. Now that he is in the AF and not home my time is limited. Without help on breezy days, doing it alone, is more work than fun getting it in and out of the hangar to the water. If Baumann hadn't gone out of business I would have a set of their amphibs on it and not sell it. That way I could keep it at my place and just fly it whenever I wanted without worrying about help.

Keith

[rkittine]

Hi Keith,

If you sell the Floats only, do you have the Fuselage "Bolt On" Fittings (not welded on). I do not have those fittings. All of the other items, vertical small fins, front wheel attachement, Float Fittings, should be no problem as you said it was on the floats now.

I am going through similar issues. I have a 7CCM which I could put the 1500s on, but your engine would be better and I am not fond of giving up having a LSA wheel plane even for the float season.

The reason I ask about the LSA staus is that I have spent pre-inspection money on 5 planes, that all turned out to be non LSA compliant even though the owners truly thought they were. Example, put on No Bouce Gear on a 7DC or 7CCM and go ahead and increase the MGW to 1350 and it is no LSA compliant. Even if you take the No Bounce gear off, once increased, the FAA will not allow you to go back

My concen is that even tho0ugh a 7AC, has a MGW of 1220, with the STC, I wanted to make sure that it did not take it above 1320 and that the FAA never had any W&B inormation showing a MGW over 1320.

The Float plane that I was flying (After I sold my Chief) was supposed to be LSA compliant and then I found that the MGW on FLoats had been increased to 1470 Pounds, 40 above the LSA on floats limit and that plane is now on Barstormers for sale also. Luscomeb iwth a 125 HP

Ciao - Robert