National Aeronca Association Bulletin Board

My name is Brian Thomas, and I have recently purchased and 1946 7AC as a restoration project. It has been a dream of mine to purchase, and restore one of these great aircraft for me to enjoy for decades to come.
I have worked in the Avition industry for years however on the interior refurbishment side of things as such I am not an A&P mechanic. I have had the great fortune to be exposed to helping others with maintenance tasks so I mechanically inclined. Although in over my head I feel like I can tackle most of the restoration myself with the exception of the big items such as fuselage repair, engine overhaul, and recovering.
My Champ is a basket case and will require significant work to become airworthy again including those mentioned.
my question to the group is what can I do, and what can't I do legally, and where do I start?
The aircraft has to be completely disassembled which I know I can do, however when it comes time to restore it where are the stopping points that I to stop to have someone authorized to inspect, and sign off on before continuing?
I thank you in advance for any and all pointers. I am happy to be a member of the Aeronca family, and I am looking forward to meeting you all in June!

Brian-

Legally there isn't much you can do without the A+P license.

Best advice is to find a local A+P or better yet an A+P with the IA authorization to work with. You will need someone to inspect any repairs you have to make and sign off that the repairs were made in accordance with AC43-13-1b. It would be in your interest to purchase a copy or download the PDF for continued reference as you work on the restoration. https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/med ... w-chg1.pdf

Also start a Blog or Excel spreadsheet to document the dates, hours, and work you performed. When you have accumulated 3200 hours you can ask your A+P friend for a letter of recommendation to take the A+P test based on practical experience. Then you can sign off your own work. Don't hesitate to document the time you spend researching drawings and technical data to accomplish a repair. It all counts just as if you were working full time at a shop.

What part of the country are your located? It may spark someone to come forward and offer their help.

If tou don't have the Drawing CD the NAA offers with a two year membership, you should acquire one. It is invaluable as you start to put things back together. The drawing CD is also a reference to identify parts by number so they can be easily returned to the correct location when you start to reassemble the project.

Richard

Thank you for the insight!

Brian,

Great to hear about your Champ. You're on the right track, find an A/P or I/A in you're area and start working with them. This way you can be sure the work is being done correctly and they can keep you on track. I would start with the fuselage and and keep all of the other components intact. Set reasonable goals and work to them, strip the fuselage, clean and paint, complete all of the sub-assemblies and reassemble. Then on to the next major component. It's like eating an elephant, you need to do it one spoonful at a time. Good luck on your new project and let us know how you are doing on it.

Paul Agaliotis
408 799-8302

Hi Brian;

Have fun. You will learn a lot. I would take lots of pictures while you disassemble it. They become a big help later on.

Bob