Shenandoah EAA Chapter 1031

Winchester, VA

Mac McLaurin

Mac McLaurin Aeronca Champ restoration

 6th Jan 2023

EAA

The Aeronca Champ before the restoration

November 10th, 2022

After flying the Champ for many years it was time to restore the Champ. The Champ was last covered in the early to mid 1980s, so it was time to take the knife to the fabric and inspect what is underneath. There was some corrosion to some of the tubes, but since Mac is a master welder, fixing the tubes was not an issue at all. Then the fuselage was sent out to get beat blasted and powder coated. The time while the fuselage was out to get powder coated was used to make new wooden pieces and to take care of some of the other parts. Mac's neighbor has been a woodworker for all his life. He volunteered to make the more complex parts. They are pieces of art!

EAA

New floor boards

EAA

Old Window Frame

EAA

New Window Frame

EAA

Old vs, new Window Frames

EAA

Parts waiting to be refurbished

EAA

Gear Legs

EAA

Working on the Door

EAA

Fuselage back from powder coating

EAA

New Stringers

EAA

Installing a new headliner

EAA

New wood components

EAA

Only the two top center stringers are reused, all other wood parts are manufactured new

EAA

Too bad that almost all of the woodwork will be hidden

EAA

Working on installing the new headliner

January 6th, 2023

EAA

Headliner is installed

EAA

Nice baggage compartment

EAA

Controls are back in and fitting the new floorboards

EAA

Mac welded up two wing tanks to replace the single header tank. That was a factory option by Aeronca.

To provide a better user experience, EAA uses cookies. To review EAA's data privacy policy or adjust your privacy settings please visit: Data and Privacy Policy.