# SAIB CE-13-40: Flight Compartment - Type: Special airworthiness information bulletin (advisory, not mandatory) - Status: Current - Revision: 0 - Issued: July 12, 2013 - Products: American Champion 7AC, 7ACA, 7BCM (Army L-16A), 7CCM (Army L-16B), 7DC, 7EC, 7ECA, 7FC, 7GC, 7GCA, 7GCAA, 7GCB and 12 more - Product type: Aircraft, Small Airplane - PDF: https://openairdocs.org/files/sha256/e6/50/e65083c71aa136372e9b98698f2c900bdb6c4b75457e62818c5f2546133b9e94 - FAA DRS: https://drs.faa.gov/browse/excelExternalWindow/186E1897EE46B40886257BA6006372AA.0001 - DRS record last changed: July 12, 2013 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/saib/CE-13-40 ## Text FAA Aviation Safety **SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS** INFORMATION BULLETIN SUBJ: Flight Compartment SAIB: CE-13-40 Date: July 12, 2013 This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory. Introduction This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) advises you of an airworthiness concern regarding the possible omission of the two reinforcement trusses in the folding front seat bottom in American Champion Aircraft Corporation (ACAC) Models: All Model 7EC, serial numbers 1000-2006 through1032-2011 All Model 7ECA, serial numbers 1355-95 through 1408-2011 All Model 7GCAA, serial numbers 400-97 through 520-2010 All Model 7GCBC, serial numbers 1200-94 through 1466-2012 All Model 8KCAB, serial numbers 643-90 through 1114-2012 All Model 8GCBC, serial numbers 361-92 through 548-2012 All older 7AC, 7ACA, S7AC, 7BCM, 7CCM, S7CCM, 7DC, S7DC, 7EC, S7EC, 7ECA, 7FC, 7GC, 7GCA, 7GCAA, 7GCB, 7GCBA, 7GCBC, 7HC, 7JC, 7KC, 7KCAB, 8KCAB, and 8GCBC with Folding Front Seats that have complied with AD 89-18-06 via replacement seat frame 7-1513 (adjustable) or 4-1454 (fixed) before the date of this letter. At this time, this airworthiness concern is not considered an unsafe condition that would warrant an airworthiness directive action under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR part 39). Background This SAIB resulted from an incident where a new American Champion Model 8KCAB (Decathlon) experienced a failed seat back while conducting aerobatic maneuvers. The pilot was able to recover control of the airplane and land safely. Subsequent inspection of the airplane revealed that the seat tubing had failed in the same location on both sides of the seat. Further investigation found that two reinforcement trusses had not been welded into the seat frame during manufacturing. American Champion isolated the seat to a batch of 10 seats that were the most recent batch manufactured. Inspections by American Champion and the Minneapolis Manufacturing Inspection District Office have not found any seats from previous batches with the trusses missing. The FAA does not currently have any indication that there are any seats in use missing the trusses. However, the purpose of this SAIB is to alert owners and operators to the issue and substantiate that all applicable fielded airplanes have the trusses installed. 2 Recommendations We recommend that all ACAC model airplanes, specified in the introduction above, complete the one time inspection procedure specified in American Champion service letter number 437. If a reinforcement truss is found to be missing please provide the airplane model, serial number, and registration number to Wesley Rouse using the contact information below. Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the information collection contained in this SAIB, and assigned OMB Control Number 2120-0731. For Further Information Contact Wesley Rouse, Aerospace Engineer, FAA Chicago Aircraft Certification, 2300 E. Devon, Des Plaines, IL 60018; phone: (847) 294-8113; email: wess.rouse@faa.gov. For Related Service Information Contact To obtain copies of American Champion service letter number 437, contact American Champion Aircraft Corporation, P.O. Box 37, 32032 Washington Ave. – Hwy. D, Rochester, WI 53167; or visit their website at www.amerchampionaircraft.com, select “Technical” and scroll down to the service letter number you wish to view or print. ## Registered aircraft it may concern (OpenAirDocs) Registry models matched by make and model, the same way as ADs, most registered aircraft first. - [Aeronca 7AC](https://openairdocs.org/model/aeronca-7ac): 1,878 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bellanca 7GCBC](https://openairdocs.org/model/bellanca-7gcbc): 487 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [American Champion 8KCAB](https://openairdocs.org/model/american-champion-8kcab): 449 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7ECA](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7eca): 419 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bellanca 8KCAB](https://openairdocs.org/model/bellanca-8kcab): 371 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bellanca 7ECA](https://openairdocs.org/model/bellanca-7eca): 347 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [American Champion 7GCBC](https://openairdocs.org/model/american-champion-7gcbc): 232 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bellanca 7KCAB](https://openairdocs.org/model/bellanca-7kcab): 230 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [American Champion 8GCBC](https://openairdocs.org/model/american-champion-8gcbc): 218 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bellanca 8GCBC](https://openairdocs.org/model/bellanca-8gcbc): 182 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Aeronca 7BCM](https://openairdocs.org/model/aeronca-7bcm): 175 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7FC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7fc): 164 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7EC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7ec): 157 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7KCAB](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7kcab): 151 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7AC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7ac): 144 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7GCBC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7gcbc): 144 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Aeronca 7DC](https://openairdocs.org/model/aeronca-7dc): 121 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [American Champion 7GCAA](https://openairdocs.org/model/american-champion-7gcaa): 119 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bellanca 7GCAA](https://openairdocs.org/model/bellanca-7gcaa): 118 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7GCAA](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7gcaa): 114 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Aeronca 7CCM](https://openairdocs.org/model/aeronca-7ccm): 91 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion AERONCA 7AC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-aeronca-7ac): 58 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7GCB](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7gcb): 55 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Aeronca 7EC](https://openairdocs.org/model/aeronca-7ec): 52 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Bellanca 7ACA](https://openairdocs.org/model/bellanca-7aca): 44 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [American Champion 7EC](https://openairdocs.org/model/american-champion-7ec): 38 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [American Champion 7ECA](https://openairdocs.org/model/american-champion-7eca): 38 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7GC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7gc): 37 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7CCM](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7ccm): 20 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7BCM](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7bcm): 19 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion AERONCA 7FC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-aeronca-7fc): 18 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion AERONCA 7BCM](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-aeronca-7bcm): 17 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion AERONCA 7EC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-aeronca-7ec): 14 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7HC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7hc): 8 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7DC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7dc): 7 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion AERONCA 7DC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-aeronca-7dc): 7 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion AERONCA 7GC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-aeronca-7gc): 7 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion AERONCA 7CCM](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-aeronca-7ccm): 6 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Aeronca 7FC](https://openairdocs.org/model/aeronca-7fc): 5 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 8KCAB](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-8kcab): 5 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7JC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7jc): 4 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Aeronca 7EC CONV](https://openairdocs.org/model/aeronca-7ec-conv): 3 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Aeronca S7AC](https://openairdocs.org/model/aeronca-s7ac): 3 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Aeronca S7CCM](https://openairdocs.org/model/aeronca-s7ccm): 3 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7EC(CONV)](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7ec-conv): 3 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion AERONCA 7GCB](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-aeronca-7gcb): 3 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion AERONCA 7HC](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-aeronca-7hc): 3 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Aeronca 7GC](https://openairdocs.org/model/aeronca-7gc): 2 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [American Champion 7AC](https://openairdocs.org/model/american-champion-7ac): 2 registered aircraft (airframe model) - [Champion 7GCA](https://openairdocs.org/model/champion-7gca): 2 registered aircraft (airframe model) All 88: https://openairdocs.org/saib/CE-13-40/models.md --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.