AERONCA L16A GRASSHOPPER, KOREAN WAR, S/NO: 47797

This could be the Aircraft you have dreamed about. I am selling my gorgeous Korean War Aeronca L16A Serial No: 47-797 which is a genuine ex US Army Warbird. Built in 1947 and was part of 509 aircraft for the US National Guard, delivered to Warner Robins Air Base in Georgia. 47-797 is the only one in the UK and is as rare as Hens Teeth, at Fly-ins 797 gets masses of attention is possibly the most original one worldwide, the original US Army Air Corps Data Plate is still with the aircraft.

L16's saw extensive service in the Korean War 1950 - 1953 and were later passed onto the Civil Air patrol, 47-797 was transfered to the Civil Air Patrol in 1956 at Warner Robins Air Base, it remained there with the Savanah Squadron until the 1970's after which it ended up in the UK. the transfer document from the USAF I have.

I have owned her now for 11 years,she found me in 2014 and needed a lot of work. I started the restoration in 2014 which took until 2018 and 2000 man hours to bring her back to original condition and get her flying again and no expense was spared to return her to nice flying condition, the rebuild was overseen and signed off by 3 individual Inspectors, and in 2018 became the subject of a Civil Aviation Audit which are selected at random and was very closely inspected, the CAA stamps and sign off's are marked in the log books.

The engine is a Continental C85 with multipoint mechanical Fuel Injection this offers more power and economy and eliminates icing hence no Carb heat to worry about. The engine had a Major Overhaul including a new Fuel Injection Unit which is all in the logs and all the new parts are listed and was and signed off as a Zero Hour engine. Currently it runs so smooth and provides plenty of power without any hesitation.

I have only done about 100 hours since 2018 bringing the total engine time now to 485 hours. 47-797 has a massive amount of history and the logs go back to 1956. The original Pilots Flight Manual is with the aircraft also the Erection, Repair manuals and full parts list, even though the L16A is a dedicated military Champ almost all of the parts will fit from the standard Champ, note that the Champion Aircraft Company are producing Champs again so again parts are easy to obtain. The Citabria and the Decathlon were developed from the Aeronca L16A and many parts from these will fit the L16A. The original Continental complete Service and overhaul Manual and includes the Manual and overhaul for the Fuel Injection Unit.

Overall she is amazing to fly with very docile handling, will fly all day hands off and can land very slowly, this is the easiest Tailwheel I have ever flown and can be flown solo from the front seat, full dual controls and with awesome visibility, cruises at around 95mph @2400 RPM and sips fuel and oil with pressure at over 55psi hot and tick over about 30 psi, operates on Super Unleaded car fuel or AVGAS, or at 2000 rpm for "Low and Slow" and no fear of icing up. A full Service has just been carried out and and an oil change with Aeroshell W80 followed by a full inspection for the Permit to Fly renewal in August which is valid until August 2026. Flying time since for test purposes is just over 1 hour.

Very easy to start just pull the prop slowly through the compression and it will start first blade hot or cold and run evenly, even down to -15/20 degrees C. it starts easy no need to swing just pull the Prop thro' the Compression stroke.

This is a very tough machine, really beefed up from the Civilian Champ and designed for rough jungle and unprepared strips , a very nice Short Field Aircraft with a stall of only 36mph.

Listed below is just some of the work that was carried out.

2 x Bendix Service Exchange Impulse Mags (Shower of Sparks), about 400 hours left before the next 500 hour check.
8 x New Spark Plugs
8 x New Shielded Ignition Leads
2 x New P-Leads (screened)
New Throttle Cable and all new friction parts
New Cabin Heat unit, New Control Cable and Panel Control, note that both Mufflers feed the Cabin Heat.
New Fuel Lines and Oil Hoses
New Quick release Oil Valve, oil can be drained without the removal of bottom cowls.
Recent New Pop up float wire (Fuel Gauge)and Vented fuel cap
New Exhaust Stacks, gaskets and Mufflers,
Heat Baffles reworked
Service Kit for Gascolator
Service Kit for Primer
Air Filter
Engine Mount Rubbers, bolts and nuts
Original AA7 Mag switch stripped and restored, new parts as required
McCauley IB90 Metal Propellor, 71 x 44, (This was shipped to the USA manufacturers service centre and overhauled, only 120 hours flying since re-installation)

Long Stroke No Bounce Oleos rebuilt,(leak free) New Heavy Duty Landing and Taxi Springs, Seals, Packing and Hydraulic Fluid.
Goodyear Disk Brakes, New Brake Discs, New Disc Clips and retainers, New Pads and Anvils, Pistons and Springs, Brake Cables.
Reconditioned Calipers
New Tailweel Leaf Springs and fixing brackets.
Park Brake, Unit completely rebuilt, New Cable and springs and Balance Bar etc ( makes solo starting safer and easier)
Rudder Pedals and Brake Pedals: New Shafts, Bearings and Return Springs.
Control Stick reworked: , Castings, Nuts and Bolts, Bearings.
Hooker 4 point Harness, front and rear, The 2 Lap straps are the same as fitted to the WW2 Boeing B17 Flying Fortress.
Front and rear Shoulder straps are Brand New.
Elevator trim Mechanism: , Stripped and rebuilt, new friction nuts
Door Emergency Release for Bale Out: Stripped and rebuilt, makes flying with the door off very easy to remove and refit, just pull the lever and the hinge pins are pulled out of the door, re-fitting is just as easy. .
Instrument Panel: New one fitted, all major instruments Calibrated
Onboard 12V 17A re-chargable battery to power Intercom and Radio
New Upper Cockpit Greenhouse roof plexiglass Panel, Windscreen and other panels professionally polished. The Civil Air Patrol
Registration decal is still in place.
All Cabin woodwork repaired, replaced, Varnished as required, new flooring.
Original seats in nice tidy condition
New Port and Starboard Elevators, Trim tab and hinge, Recover and paint
Wing inspection covers rectangular, top of wing, the uppers were originally fitted by the USAF making inspection and wing removal so
much easier, all new circular underwing and tail inspection covers replaced.
New Heavy duty lift struts and Jury Struts, Same as the Citabria
New Pitot and static ports new tubing to ASI on Instrument Panel.
Maule auto unlocking Tailwheel, new Oilite bearing, Maule Anti Shimmy springs, makes it easy when pushing backwards into the hangar and also when parking by locking one brake.
Aircraft has the been repainted with the same Color scheme as the 1st Cavalry Division with the same markings as when it served in the US Army Air Corps/USAF , Matt Olive Drab Upper, pale Sky Blue/Grey below, Paints have British standard numbers so easy to obtain, but some Olive paint for touch up will be supplied. Vinyl Decals as photographs, note the tail markings have been changed recently from white to yellow, my error in 2017,(font and color)

Fabric is in excellent condition and easily passes all the "Tear tests"

TOTAL AIRFRAME HOURS includes. Military Service from 1947 is 3503 hours.

Plus much more work carried out, above are the major items, full photographic documentation supplied of the work done, and all the
American and current UK Engine and Airframe Log Books and all the current worksheets from 2014, there is no recorded accident damage since it arrived in the UK in the 1970's to RAF Upper Hayford for the care of: Captain Chester Parham III who I think was the Station Commanding Officer, since being in the UK it has always been hangared.

Also fitted in 2018 an ICOM 833 radio and a 4 place intercom in installed (4 place supports Stereo Headsets) and 2 almost new Stereo headsets with carry cases)

All new Nuts and Bolts, Clevis pins, clips, cotters etc etc throughout the rebuild

Aircraft is ready to fly away and will go with a full fuel, the range according to the manual is around 350 miles and being so docile is great for novice pilots or low hour pilots, very easy to maintain it will ideally make a great Group Aircraft.

The L16A is by far the most economical to fly, and operate of all the "L " Birds, very similar consumption as a Rotax 912 and so much faster than the L4 Cubs and unlike the L4 can be flown solo from the front seat.

MTOW is 1220lbs giving a payload of just over 400lbs, the MTOW can be raised to 1350lbs which is the weight it flew at in the USAF with just a paperwork exercise as the work required has already been done.

Sadly age is catching up with me otherwise it would not be sold. 797 is currently on a brilliant farm strip and I cannot see any reason why if needed the hangarage cannot be retained.