72 7ECA yard find rebuild

Pilotjoe2011

Pilotjoe2011

Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2023
Messages
16
Location
California
I found this 72 7ECA while flying over the area. Spent 7 months talking to the owner to learn the story of the airplane and trying to buy it off of him. He finally came to terms with the truth that he will never get it back in the air and the deal was made.
The man I got the plane from had owned it since 76. Total time is 544 hrs. It has been sitting in his yard with the wings off for a long time. His memory is not like it use to be so he can not remember for sure when it got parked. It has no logbooks, so I can't look there either.
I have had this plane for a few months now so I will be back filling the pictures and adding to the story until it is completed.
I have a real good history on the plane as the son of the original owner has reached out to me because we're only a few hundred miles apart. This airplane has been local its entire life. IMG_0717.jpegIMG_1190.jpegIMG_0713.jpeg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
what kind of shape are the lower longerons in? The base of the tail post is another spot to look very closely at.
 
If u get new bulkheads have ACA put the guides in for the elevator trim. They have a special tool that makes life much better. Looks like a great project!
 
Bartman said:
what kind of shape are the lower longerons in? The base of the tail post is another spot to look very closely at.
Click to expand...
I used a spring loaded flattened out center pinch to make sure I could not punch through the tubes. It is getting blasted next week so it will be a bare frame for better inspection. IA wants to see it bare seeing that we are rebuilding the logbooks. We want to make sure there are no signs of any damage or previous repair.
 
I rarely care about previous repair.... only that it wasn't botched.
 
Tail section was the worst of the wear. Leaves and crap were able to sit around for years and made it a nightmare to get things separated. 5 days of spraying penetrating oil on the elevator pins to get them to move. It took almost two weeks to get the horizontals off. The aft pin was locked in there real good. Had to make a spreader tool to keep some pressure on it as the penetrating oil did its job.
IMG_1254.webpIMG_1253.webpIMG_1532.webpIMG_1404.webp
 
@Pilotjoe2011 How far is Tucson from you?

Free Empennage

This was acquired years ago and I'm tired of storing it. I don't know anything about it but it had a "Champion" decal on the tail. I removed the fabric and the tubing looks solid. It's free but you have to pick it up in Tucson.
champcitabriadecathlonforums.com champcitabriadecathlonforums.com
 
IMG_1797.webp
The fuselage is almost prepped for media blasting. Hopefully in the next two weeks I can start putting this thing back together.
 
Yup.. saw the best outlaw race (probably the best race of my life) at kings speedway in 87 or 88.
 
70925697713__DD2C69AA-EAA0-4CF2-BC4A-7076D9CE714C.webp
Got some media blasting done. Used 240 grit aluminum oxide and it cleaned up everything pretty good. No bad areas on the fuselage.
Got a few small area of pitting corrosion on the horizontal. The corrosion is near the rivet holes. I am going to try to blend it out but due to how thin the metal is, I might end up replacing those piece or just buy an entire new horizontal from ACA.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top