Looking for Aeronca 7AC

[pgreenwood]

Greetings!

I'm a wannabe pilot, son of a WWII veteran who secured his private license via the GI Bill.

My dad, Eldon Greenwood (1919-1998) of Farley, Iowa, owned a 7AC from about 1952 until about 1962.

I cannot locate any photos or papers. I would settle for the N-Number. I've searched the FAA database and discussed with FAA personnel. I took a stab in the dark and ordered up the records on one plane, but that was not it. While dad owned the plane it was used solely VFR for recreation. No towing or special use. I recall it was painted all red when I last saw it. I guess without an N-number or serial number I won't be able to track that plane. I know someone who is interested in purchasing it if I could find it.

If you find from your records that you own or know the whereabouts of this plane please drop me a line, even if you aren't interested in selling it.

Keep the shiny-side up and thank you!

[joea]

Boy, without any more data, this is going to be a tough one!

Any chance there might be something in your Fathers paperwork? My Father passed a while (20 or so years ago) and left me his logbooks. I ended up looking up his old airplanes that he flew and was really surprised that most of them were still registered. For planes that he flew in the 1930-1940's thats surprising.

My Father grew up in the Manson/Ft. Dodge area and did some of his flying in the Shenandoah part of Iowa. Was your Father living in any one place during this time? If yes, how about going to the FBO at the airport and seeing if they have any information? An old photo on the wall or such would help.

If you can come up with ANY more data that would sure help.

Joe A

[pgreenwood]

<snip>My Father grew up in the Manson/Ft. Dodge area and did some of his flying in the Shenandoah part of Iowa. Was your Father living in any one place during this time? <snip>

Dad owned one plane, the Champ. He and his brother Loras (Piper Tri-Pacer) hangared their planes at their private field in Farley. I know we landed in Dubuque and Davenport from time to time. I live in Omaha but I will check with DBQ which is close by. Logbooks? That's a possibility. Thank you for the tips and encouragement, Joe!

[joea]

How about a first name? We are a friendly group here.

My Father had several old logbooks from the pre-war time period. Your Father should have had these as well.

You can go to Landings.com (http://www.landings.com/evird.acgi$pass ... earch.html) and search for aircraft registrations for free.

If you find any old logbooks or paperwork with a "N" number or even serial number (7AC-xxxx) that would help a lot.

Joe A

[pgreenwood]

How about a first name? We are a friendly group here.

Oops. It's Pat. Pat G.

[pgreenwood]

old logbooks from the pre-war time period

Joe -- did you mean pre-WWII? Dad didn't purchase the plane until after WWII. Thanks. Pat

[joea]

Pat,

Yes I did. My Father flew loads of Cubs and Aeronca's in the days before WW2 then pretty much stopped during the war.

In his logbooks I found the registration numbers of these planes and was able to track them down on www.landings.com, so as yours was a post-war airplane the chances should be better.

Joe A

[Captgrumps]

Contact the FAA Registration in Oklahoma City and give then a name and ask them if they can reference it in their database. Worth a try.

Doug

[Paul Agaliotis]

Pat,
I took a long shot and pulled up Aeronca and Greenwood. The only hit I got was for, April Greenwood from Jacksboro,TN.
If you can find any other leads, even a partial N number, it will give us a little more to go on. Good luck.
Paul

[pgreenwood]

Pat, I took a long shot and pulled up Aeronca and Greenwood.

Thank you, everyone. I believe the information available per FAA is all current. The only way to access historical FAA information is to manually search records. The files are not machine-searchable. I need to look harder to see if any nuggets are still left around home.

[RRHaldeman]

If you know where the airplane was based when your father owned it, go there and ask the oldest guy on the field who was the mechanic during those days. Possible that paper records would be available to confirm annual inspections, etc. That just might get you an N-number.

[pgreenwood]

annual inspections, etc.

...another good idea. Thanks, Dick!

[pgreenwood]

I thought you'd get a kick out of the latest report from my brother who is helping me track down this airplane.

"A little update there Kids, John xxxx called me back, he is on this the plain (plane) was sold to Jeff xxxx, Spelling? who had it a while, he is not sure if he is alive? But a friend of his Willy xxxx Bro. Jay xxxx hung with this Jeff, and probably has info on the plane. He thought it ended up in Whitey xxxx Field for a while. He is not sure after that, but has some calls out. He thinks he can come up with the serial Number, witch he thinks is the way to go. I had a long chat with him. Funny Guy."

...this is how pre world-wide-web research is flavored if you're 300 miles from home and don't have any photos or other records.

[joea]

Pat,

If you do not come up with a serial number, pls give us some names and we very well may know these people.

The Aeronca world is pretty small at times...

Joe