AERONCA CHIEF 11AC N86297
by Art West

Purchased it on Dec 15th.  Got it out of Marion, Indiana.  It is a 1946 Aeronca Chief 11AC N86297 with a Continental A65 65 hp non electric engine.  It is serial number 11AC-103 so I assume it is the 103rd Aeronca Chief built in 1946.

It must be hand propped.  It will start very easily, even on a very cold day.  Pull it through until carb is sucking gas then pull one compression stroke.  Make the mags hot and it usually starts with one strong prop pull.  I was a little afraid to hand prop at first but find it an easy thing to do now that I have done it a few times.  I always heat the oil first to save wear and tear on the engine.  Also I check the oil pressure to ensure it comes up at once.  If it ever stops coming up at once I will work on the oil pump as one can put 200 hrs of wear on this engine on one start up if you let the pump get weak.

I have log books and other paperwork back to 1946.  It was restored in 1993-94.

It is not showroom new but is above average in appearance and in quality.  The engine has no oil leaks whatsoever.  It was dirty and I spent a lot of time cleaning and spot painting the engine compartment.

The fabric was very dirty and had a fist size hole in the bottom next to the cowling.  I fixed the hole and cleaned all the fabric and cowling up.  It now looks nice.

It was on its back in 1984 from a wind storm and had the tail section replaced but it was done professionally and appears ok inside, in fact looks like new in the interior.

It has about 460 hours on engine and airframe since rebuild.  TTAF is around 2,100.  I hope to get about another 500 hrs before I have to crack the engine.

It is a side by side two place dual control (except brakes) aircraft with a 70 lb capacity luggage compartment behind the seat.

I flew it first time with Steve Statkus on Dec 22.  It flew very nicely but did not land very good because of some maintenance needed.  It was nearly impossible to wheel land and it wanted to go off to the right to the point that I needed left brake to keep it on the runway.

It flies better then most Aeronca Chief's according to two longtime Aeronca pilots I let fly it.  Steve says it flies nicer then his, but maybe he was just being nice.  According to Skip Lawrence, an ex-commercial pilot, long time Aeronca buff and AI who first flew in Aeroncas with his father when he was 2 years old (he used to stand in the baggage compartment behind his father and father's friend) this is one of the two best flying Chief's he has ever flown.  It just needed some work to improve ground handling. 

Flew it by myself Feb 2, after replacing tires, tubes, rear tail wheel assembly, straightening right axle to correct excessive toe out problem and servicing oleos with oil after repacking.  NOW, it lands very nice either 3 point or wheel landing and tracks straight and true.  A joy to land.  I put expensive Goodyear tires on it and keep them between 14 and 17 lbs pressure.

I did some other items of maintenance such as cleaning the fuel tanks, putting in some drain grommets, drilling a safety hole in the breather tube, tying up wires and cables that were rubbing, a fresh annual, oiled all pulleys and cables, oil change, spot painting etc.  These did not cost much but were very time consuming in December, Jan and Feb.

It has a 15 gal front tank at firewall and an 8 gal rear tank.  In flight you must open a valve AFTER the front tank is 1/2 or less full for the rear tank to drain to the front tank.  Then SHUT the valve or if you climb or when you land the fuel will run back to the rear tank.

Has about a 340 mile range.  Take off is trim set for climb out, yoke full back until about 15 mph then forward (takes some pressure forward to raise the nose) until the nose comes up then yoke in a neutral position or slightly back until it lifts off when it wants to.  Must input some rudder to keep it straight, usually right rudder but back and forth.  The rudder input needed is slower then the Avid so the chief is easier on the ground.  When it gets light and is just wanting to fly it will drift with the slightest wind so you have to watch it.

Did my first cross country in it with my wife on a cold but beautiful Feb 3 From KHAO to Circleville then to Bolton in Columbus and back.  It flies very nice.  You can put it into a turn then just lean back to get a nice climbing turn or lean forward to get a nice descending turn.  Trims up very nicely and flies with hands off.  Reset trim about every 15 min to adjust for fuel burn.  Very nicely balanced.  You turn it with small rudder input and very little yoke control input.

It only weighs about 800 lbs with a 36 ft wing so won't take much crosswind.  At Bolton landing runway 22 with wind out of 270 at about 14 knots with gusts to 20 knots it got very interesting landing with my limited experience but I didn't break anything.  On the way back I had about a 30 mph headwind and just made it back before being illegal because of no lights.  However, the sun shining through scattered clouds at about 3200 ft was just beautiful.

Cruise is about 90 mph at 2150 RPM.  Max RPM is 2300 RPM.  Really it will cruise along at 95 mph but that is too much RPM.  2150 is max you want to do.  It has a less than one year old McCauley metal climb prop and in the cold weather we have had lately with just me in it it really does climb well, so much so that I was surprised.  We will wait and see how it does with two people and 85 deg temp this summer.

Of course I don't know how fast it climbs as I only have the following instruments:

I use an anywhere and IPAC moving map with GPS to find my way around, along with an ICOM A22 and a Sporty's COM for backup.             

On landing I turn on carb heat while on downwind as the A65 is very susceptible to carb ice and once it stops there is no way to heat the carb for a restart.  Abeam the touchdown point I throttle back to 1200-1500 RPM and trim for 65-70.  On base I run the throttle up to make sure there is no ice problem and to keep the carb with proper fuel.  On final I use a little power as needed and trim as needed so I am at about 55-60 at beginning of runway.  I flair at about 50 and try to three point at 38-40 mph.  It has more visibility over the nose than the Piper Cubs and I can see the end of the runway at all times, just barely.  When I am deep into the flare I shift my gaze to left front to help judge height.  Sometimes I two point because of misjudging height.  then I either bounce a little and just come back and three point or put the yoke forward and wheel land.  It takes a lot of pressure to keep the yoke forward and the tendency is to let it balloon up.  If it has wheel landed then I wait till the tail drops and bring the yoke ALL THE WAY BACK AT ONCE to get positive tail wheel steering.

Takes off and lands in a few hundred feet.

It has mechanical heel breaks which take some getting used to.  They work well as they are only needed for turning and run up, if you can find them in time.

When in flight I frequently put carb heat on because if the engine stops, unless you are well above 3000 feet you most likely will not have time to restart it.  You need about 100 mph (3000 ft) to get the prop to turn through a compression stroke.  And in any event you have no way to melt the ice.  My rule of thumb is if at 3000 ft or below, I look for a landing spot and don't worry about the engine. 

You have to manage your power carefully as the carb has no accelerator pump.  This means if you open the throttle quickly you will kill the engine as it will have too much air and not enough fuel.

This aircraft is harder to get into trouble on landing than my Avid but once in trouble it is harder to get out of trouble because you can't get as quick a power response.

Climb out at 60-68 seems to work well.  On a hot day one needs to climb out at about 69-70 for cooling, but I think 55 is Vx and Vy about 65-68.

It has no flaps so you slip it if you need to lose altitude.  It slips very deeply and is fun to do.  I try to not slip it unless I am behind the power curve so I don't cold shock the engine with to much speed.  It is not good on these engines to come down at a prolonged idle.   I do slip it on landing sometimes as I like to keep high in the pattern in case this no-starter 56 year old engine decides to stop.

Two other interesting things I have learned about flying the Chief are, first in turns, because of only having 65 hp and the fact that the plane is light and will slow down much quicker than most aircraft I always keep the nose below the horizon when turning, for safety.  Second, when landing, it takes a lot of guts to push the yoke forward to wheel land.  But if you are timid and allow the plane to drop the tail before it is ready and balloon the plane it will stop and stall RIGHT NOW and you cannot put in power quickly (no pump) to help soften it so it is best to control to flair or you will get into trouble.

The A65 has a mixture control but it is wired to full rich and should be kept that way.

It has a very poor heater.  I am thinking of putting Cessna 150 mufflers on it so it is quieter and warmer.  I keep the chief in a hangar at KHAO.

What I like about the chief, in order, is this:

1. It flies on a small budget.
2. It flies.
3. It flies low and slow.
4. It is a tail dragger so always exciting to land and take off.  In fact much more fun than the Pipers at Sporty's I learned to fly in.
5. Sitting side by side with your wife is nice.

Art