National Aeronca Association Bulletin Board

I have a 7AC Champ with an A-65. It has the standard nose gas tank and one 13 gallon wing tank. Are there any advantages in removing the nose tank and adding an additional wing tank to have all the fuel in the wings or would this cause weight and balance issues? Thanks.

This isn't an answer to your question...but why would you want to remove it? My Champ has a 13 gallon in each wing AND the header tank. Sure was nice that time I flew from my place to SE WI. I flew 6 1/2 hours without a need to stop for fuel.
Oh, my Champ has a little more HP thus more fuel consumption than yours. I have an O-235.
I guess what I am saying is I would keep the header in there just in case you ever wanted/need to give that steed a little more power.

I can think of two very good reasons to get rid of the header tank. You wouldn't have 13 gallons of highly flamable liquid sitting in your lap and you would have all that space that you could use to make a more usable panel. If I were to ever rebuild my Champ that header tank would be a gonner!

Both of my Champs had a nose tank. The L16 has two 5 gallon wing tanks plus the nose tank. To me the two 13's are the ideal set up as it takes the nose tank out of the cockpit as Larry describes and (2) you don't have to keep trimming as the fuel is getting burned out of the nose tank and (3) it shouldn't affect the weight and balance at all other than changing it for the better. My friend has the two 13's and his CG is not as nose heavy. Of course Keith makes a good point too..you can't have too much fuel (unless you're on fire )
Mike

The bigger problem is removing the nose tank legally. Unless there's an existing STC, SL, or 337 your in for a long road with the Feds. Plus you'll be giving up fuel capacity unless you go with citabria tanks, which requires some changes to the wing not easily done when covered. Honestly, I can't find a good reason to dump the nose tank. Fire is fire, whether you have fuel in the wings or fuselage, its gonna suck. Going through the trees or pancaking into the ground, your bigger risk comes from the gascolator.

nkh

One method for converting from the nose tank to the wing tanks is to install two 13 gallon wing tanks and remove the nose tank in accordance with Aeronca Kit 192 26 gallon wing tank kit. As Nathan commented, installation of the 13 gallon wing tanks requires modification of the wings, and removal of the fabric. If you do install the kit 192 26 gallon system and remove the 13 gallon system in accordance with the kit 192 drawings, the conversion can be done and documented with a 337.
The conversion from nose to wing tanks will impact your weight and balance. The moment arm for the fuel in the nose tank is -15 inches from the leading edge wing datum while the moment arm for the fuel in wing tanks is +24 inches from the datum. As you burn fuel from a nose tank the aircraft CG will move aft while burning fuel from the wing tanks will move the CG forward.
The Kit 192 modification requires the installation of placards to limit the total fuel to 25 gallons. This is related to the engine oil capacity to onboard fuel capacity. This placard is not required if the engine oil sump capacity is increased.
When I restored my champ, I installed the kit 192 and removed the nose tank for two reasons. The first was to provide additional fuel capacity/endurance for the C 85 engine upgrade. The second reason was to remove the nose tank to provide space to modify the aircraft instrument panel, move the panel forward, and provide space behind the panel to install instruments in the relocated panel. On my aircraft the CG moves about 1/2 inch forward as the fuel capacity is reduced from 26 gallons to 0 gallons.
Depending upon how your current single 13 gallon wing tank is piped, installation of the second 13 gallon tank may also require significant piping modification to comply with the kit 192 installation drawings. One last point is that the fuel tanks and associated piping hardware is becoming quite expensive.