Fly to work in an antique taildragger!

Come along as I make a short flight in my 1946 Aeronca Champ
You may also support by purchasing fun items at my Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/s...

[@Kevin_747]

I have my dads Champ he bought in 1961. I soloed it in 1971. It propelled me to a 40 year career as a professional pilot. You can't beat the feeling one of these classic taildraggers can give you. Is that OJC?

[@prodigalpilot]

Yes, OJC indeed

[@bobesposito7235]

The 2 Champs we had in a flying club were $2500 or less each.

[@prodigalpilot]

@@bobesposito7235 how times have changed! They are still relative bargains though!

[@bov634]

Love the champ, can't beat stick and rudder fun. She'll take you almost anywhere....as long as your not in a hurry lol.

[@bobesposito7235]

From my point of view, that little airplane isn't an antique. It's a a good reliable tail dragger - with a wind generator and good old stand wind starter. The flying club I was in had two.

[@wendellhagg3511]

A 1946 Airplane didn’t seem old in 1964 when I soloed. Now we both are !! Love Flying, Champs of all Models are Awesome !! Thank You for sharing !! H.

[@kr6dr]

I learned to hand prop a 1947 Aeronca Champ at Quartz Hill airport when I was 14 years old. I washed airplanes there for $3 a plane. If one of the mechanics wanted to fly the Champ, they would come to me and say “Hey kid, want to go flying?” which meant start the plane and hop in the back seat. They always gave me plenty of stick time.

[@prodigalpilot]

I’ll give you $3 right now. 😂

[@kr6dr]

@@prodigalpilot Back then you could rent a Piper Cherokee for $28 an hour. I wish I could go back in time.

[@russellalderman6920]

I took lessons in a 7AC champ back in the early 1960s cost 40 dollars per flight hour plus whatever the instructor would charge, usually ten bucks a lesson. The good old days.

[@robertcieslak1861]

I made my first solo in a cub in 1955. $6.00 an hour for the airplane and $3.00 an hour for the instructor. The airplane was N3531N.

[@mikedunn7795]

Nice little plane! How many miles to work,and how long does the flight take? Never learned to fly,and I regret it now.

[@doppelraab]

Very beautiful plane, congratulations. I've a question: In this model, when flying solo, does the pilot need to sit in the back of the cabin? Like a Piper Cub J3.... Thanks - Marc

[@prodigalpilot]

Nope, champ can be flown from the front or back seat solo. Most choose the front.

[@robinj.9329]

In the early 70's, at the FBO where I was earning my first Pilot Certificate, one of their mechanics flew to work in his restored Luscombe every day! No matter what the weather! He was about 75 miles away, and took off from his own Farm airstrip. And made the trip safely and reliable as click work for over 25 years!!!!!

[@prodigalpilot]

Very cool, check out my latest video, have some much better footage now, this video has been very popular but I’m not happy with the production value. Thanks for watching!

[@ineverhadthemoney7857]

what state do you live in ? 2 fly to work ,, good for you .

[@prodigalpilot]

Kansas

[@wwjoesr]

Such a sweet engine sound. And lovely flight, O, and let’s not ignore the super smooth landing. Love the Aeronca Champ! Excellent video editing.

[@paulsmith3820]

I learned to fly in Aeronca Champ in 1958. It had a 90 hp engine. It was owned by a Marine Corps Master Sergeant. He gave lessons to Marines: $7 an hour dual and $5 solo. I went on to get every license issued by the FAA, and I worked as an instructor/charter pilot for three years before moving on to a business career.

[@duanethompson2360]

I got my license flying champs in the 1970s . Love them, worked on them to help pay my $300 license free!

[@edwardstephens247]

Nice bird. I wish!

[@Blaircraft.Engines]

FYI- I'm your 100th subscriber. I just flew to work last week and recorded a video of it and found yours afterwards, that's pretty cool. Last: I'm a AP/IA and just started an annual inspection today on my first 7AC with a A65 engine. Love it. Well done with scoring a successful video!

[@prodigalpilot]

I’ve been watching your stuff as well! I’m lucky enough to work in aviation, as a program manager for an Avionics manufacturer, but I think if I had to do it again, I would go the A&P route, slowly logging hours, maybe I’ll have them in time for retirement! Appreciate the comments, I have no idea why this video has taken off so strong, it was one of my first and frankly, the production value isn’t great. The camera settings/color correction is terrible, but I’m thankful for the views nonetheless. I do think the videos I have released in the past week are much better.

[@Blaircraft.Engines]

@@prodigalpilot Awesome. 👊 Keep up the good work. Log the work you do/help with maintenance wise, it all adds up! If you make it to Oshkosh, shoot me a comment! Stay safe and be blessed!

[@prodigalpilot]

@@Blaircraft.Engines sounds great! I plan to be there, undecided if I’ll make it an adventure and fly “Bess”, or bring the autopilot equipped Cherokee 180

[@LCA-pc9zh]

Hi, Lots of early time on Aeroncas on wheels, floats and skis and hand propped all of them. I wouldn't stand in front doing it like you did but it is much safer standing on the left side and hand prop it from there. Left hand on the door post and right hand to pull the prop. it's easy and safer.

[@prodigalpilot]

I do it both ways depending on the situation. From behind, it’s impossible not to wrap fingers around the prop, increasing chance of hand injury with a backfire.

[@08cad]

SWEET! Taildraggers pilots rule!😉

[@prodigalpilot]

Thanks for watching!

[@freedomforever6718]

Lovely. You are living my dream!

[@prodigalpilot]

I am!

[@amiganutt]

I soloed in a Champ in 1960. Nice flying aircraft.

[@prodigalpilot]

Thanks for watching!

[@caseyburril9972]

I use a Clipper for my commute. I enjoyed your video.

[@prodigalpilot]

Thanks for watching!

[@jamesdunlap7931]

Stick n rudder. Sweet

[@sramz100]

nice to see a young'un that knows how to prop start an airplane!

[@prodigalpilot]

Thanks for watching! Trying to get the younger generations interested in these old classics. These airplanes really teach you how to fly.

[@sramz100]

@@prodigalpilot They did me! My Dad taught me to fly in a J3 in 1974 at the age of 16. It seemed ancient to me even back then when it was only 28 years old. It is still out there flying somewhere!

[@caroltenge5147]

You should have seen me.

[@RH-xr8ms]

I had an aeronca champ (grasshopper ) in 1959-1960 N47503 ! 1943 year model, still had the USAAC data plate mounted to the floor under the seat. Quite the fun little plane. That model had heel brake pedals mounted on the rudder pedals. That was so-so much better than the spuds on the floorboards ! You could use your brakes at any position of the rudder pedals. I always told folks they were just upside down toe brakes !!! I loved that ol veteran.

[@Sidetrackification]

Excellent thanks for posting this!

[@prodigalpilot]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MemphisBBQ378]

How long is the drive to work and how long is the flight?

[@prodigalpilot]

35 min drive, 15 flight. Certainly takes longer to fly than drive by the time it’s all said and done. I still know which I prefer.

[@MemphisBBQ378]

​@@prodigalpilot You probably get to work in a pretty good mood, so the time expenditure is worth it.

[@hughpt5919]

Cool airplane, cool pilot.

[@prodigalpilot]

Appreciate that!

[@robertoler3795]

I fly to Boeing Field in my Ercoupe and TriChamp (alternate) Boeing test pilot :) fly safe

[@prodigalpilot]

Excellent! I am lucky enough to work in aviation as well, but not as cool as a test pilot!

[@robertoler3795]

@@prodigalpilot eny job in aviation is good...and a well done video

[@williamtrusler1508]

Nice job!

[@prodigalpilot]

Thanks for watching! Check out some of my later videos, I am actually not too happy with the production value of this one anymore!

[@rafaeltorres2886]

I worry about the spar , fuel tank and the old engine with today's oil, I see to many engine failures from low compression low rpm engines . 🤔

[@prodigalpilot]

I don’t share the same concerns. Never been an inflight breakup that wasn’t a result of poor choice, low compression and rpm just mean less stress on the components

[@vittoriodiana2269]

Why plane without door? 😮

[@prodigalpilot]

Because the view is spectacular! Safe and legal with STC.