Built by Aeronca Aircraft Corporation, the Champ first flew in 1944, having been designed in tandem with the 11AC Chief—the Champ with tandem seating and joystick controls, and the Chief with side-by-side seating and yoke controls. The intention was to simplify production and control costs by building a pair of aircraft with a significant number of parts in common; in fact, the two designs share between 70% and 80% of their parts. The tail surfaces, wings, landing gear, and firewall forward—engine, most accessories, and cowling, are common to both airplanes.

Selling for $2,095, the Champ outsold the Chief by an 8 to 1 margin. Engine upgrades in 1948 and 1949 resulted in the Models 7DC and 7EC. Between 1945 and 1950, Aeronca was producing 50 light aircraft per day and by the time production ended in 1951, the company had sold more than 10,000 Champions.

Aeronca ceased all production of light aircraft in 1951, and the Champ design was sold in 1954 to Champion Aircraft.

The Aeronca C-2, powered by a tiny two-cylinder engine, debuted in 1929. It was flying at its most basic—the pilot sat on a bare plywood board. The C-2 featured an unusual, almost frivolous design with an open-pod fuselage that inspired its nickname, The Flying Bathtub, The general design of the C-2 could have been inspired by Jean Roche's initial flight experiences with an American-built copy of the Santos-Dumont Demoiselle, which had a similar triangular "basic" fuselage cross-section, and wire spoked main landing gear wheels right up against the fuselage sides.[citation needed]

Equipped with only five instruments, a stick, and rudder pedals (brakes and a heater cost extra), the C-2 was priced at a low $1,495, bringing the cost of flying down to a level that a private citizen could aspire to and perhaps reach. Aeronca sold 164 of the economical C-2s at the height of the Great Depression in 1930-1931, helping to spark the growth of private aviation in the United States.[citation needed]

The Aeronca C-2 also holds the distinction of being the first aircraft to be refueled from a moving automobile. A can of gasoline was handed up from a speeding Austin automobile to a C-2 pilot, (who hooked it with a wooden cane) during a 1930 air show in California. A seaplane version of the C-2 was also offered, designated the PC-2 and PC-3 (“P” for pontoon) with floats replacing the wheeled landing gear.[citation needed]

SPECIFICATIONS:
Powerplant Continental O-200-D
Horse Power 100 @ 2750 rpm
Propeller Sensenich, W69EK48 Wood Prop
Prop Diameter 69 in.
Length 22.1 ft.
Height 7.7 ft.
Wingspan 33.5 ft.
Wing Area 165 sq. ft.
Wing Loading 8.0 lb. / sq. ft.
Power Loading 13.2 lb. / HP
Seats 2, Tandem
Cabin Length 8 ft. 10 in.
Cabin Width 2 ft. 6 in.
Cabin Height 3 ft. 11 in.
Empty Weight (typical) 967 lbs.
Maximum Gross Weight 1320 lbs.
Useful Load 353 lbs.
Payload with Full Fuel 251 lbs.
Fuel Capacity 17 gal. Usable
Oil Capacity 6 quarts
Baggage Capacity 100 lbs. (10.4 cubic feet)