What would happen If Aeronca Made the Chief with TriCycle Gear? |
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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. � � � |
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It was powered by a 115-horsepower Lycoming, stalled at 39 mph (just like the Chief!)....projected price was $8890 in 1974 dollars. |
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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 |
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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. � � � |
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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. |
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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' |
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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 � � � |
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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 |
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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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