What would happen If Aeronca Made
the Chief with TriCycle Gear?
Well, it did happen, but it wasn't Aeronca.
Bellanca that did it in the early 70's!
The first press releases date around 1973.�� It didn't
have an official name, just "the Bellanca Trainer".
If you look at the interior photos of N9089E, you'll
find a really interesting thing... the tubing of the
lower door post that is exposed is the same as the�
Chief, in fact, it looks like you could just about

bolt on the conventional gear.� The rear window
exposes the aft tubing, again,just like the 11-series
Aeronca.... the cowling is Citabria, the wings look
like a Champ or Citabria.�� But by the time the
plane reached the flight prototype stage, the
rudder had grown taller than the 11 Chief, to counter
act the nose gear no doubt!� Compare the ramp
photo and the inflight photo and you can see the
difference.


It was powered by a 115-horsepower Lycoming,
stalled at 39 mph (just like the Chief!)....projected
price was $8890 in 1974 dollars.
The trainer used a NACA 4412 airfoil, had a 60" chord
and 165 square feet of area with a 6.9 aspect ratio and 2 degrees
of dihedral, 1 degree of wing incidence.
Length:� 22.4 feet
Span: 34.5 feet
Height:� 81 inches
Width: 40 inches
The Bellanca trainer was disassembled for parts in autumn
of 1976... killed off by Cessna's complete domination of
the market with the Cessna 150, the middle east oil
crisis and the recession.�� And the Bellanca company was
in financial trouble.�� It was dismantled at Osecola,
Wisconsin....The Tri-Gear Chief never had a chance.


Don O'Mara was Bellanca's vice-president and
did the first test flight on October 26th, 1973.
The prototype was assembled in less than 8 weeks.
He reported: "She handles extremely well.� It has
excellent manners for a trainer.� Aileron
control is firm and responsive,
yet the aicraft is quite stable.� The student pilot
will have to master the basics: rudder, pitch
control, etc., but it's not a touchy airplane. I
found it very easy to fly.�� We are very pleased
with the way the aircraft stacked up against our
engineers projected performance figures.�� On several
points the prototype performed even better than we
anticipated.� By the time we finish streamlining and refining
the aircraft, I think our little new airplane will be able
to offer stiff competition in the trainer aircraft market.
Gross weight:� 1650 lbs
Empty weight:� 960 lbs
Fuel: 26 gal.
Design Cruise:� 135 mph
Max. Speed Sea Level:� 125 mph
Rate of Climb: 720 fpm
VNE: 180 mph
Range: 553 miles
Stall speed of prototype:� 45 mph
Flaps down stall speed: 39 mph
Service Ceiling: 13,000'
Email me at [email protected] if you have some information
on the Bellanca Trainer... I'll put it up on the web page!
Revised 1-10-1999


OK, onward to the next page... we'll read a Flying report on how the Chief
was received in December of 1947....first hand impressions of the plane while it was still new... good reading for anyone... buy the way, these pages are best viewed in 800 resolution, while I put them together with 1024 res....FLIGHT REPORT ON THE AERONCA CHIEF
If a Tricycle geared Chief wasn't enough, how about a copy of
the Chief made by a company other than Aeronca? Or a look
at the 1948 Aeronca Factory Brochure?
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