By Rick Champagne, EAA 1378576

This piece originally ran in the June 2026 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.

After building an RV-6 with my dad, I decided I wanted to restore an old taildragger. So the search began while living in New Hampshire. I settled on a 170 for its classic round tail and “piano key” panel. Many others were considered including some Stinsons. This one here I located in Louisiana. Some pictures were sent, and I arranged to see it and possibly purchase and bring it home. After arriving, I looked at the airplane, and it was mostly all there, though the wings were outside covered with a large old billboard. More about that later.

I decided to purchase it, and the 23-foot truck was already arranged, so we loaded the whole thing in but had to pull the wheel to get it through the door. I strapped it down good, and off I went 1,700 miles back to New Hampshire. Along the way I wondered, “What have I just done?”

When I arrived and unloaded it, I discovered the tail cone and support was worse than what I had seen earlier. I removed the tail cone and stringers and set upon rebuilding it to an L-19 standard. It was completely gutted, and then I started from there. About a year later I moved to Virginia, and during that time of transition of renting while building a house, moving everything south including the aircraft, I continued on subassemblies. Reskinning the doors, building an electrical bus and layout, etc.

The house and hangar at the airfield were finally completed, and the final work could be done. The wings, unfortunately, had hail damage. The horizontal stabilizer, elevators, wings, flaps, and ailerons were delivered to a shop in Alabama for reskinning. Meanwhile, I continued on everything else.

About a year later I picked up the parts in Alabama and completed final assembly. Windshield, windows, interior, cables and pulleys, wiring, fuel tanks, and landing gear. I kept true to the original panel layout but made modern updates like circuit breakers, radios, etc.

I found some updated seats and made some more improvements over the original materials. I never considered the 170 a “real” four-seater, just a great, comfortable two-seater with some load-carrying abilities. It has just enough power for that. But the ads in the ’50s called it the “Family Car of the Air.” We all know that people were a bit smaller back then, so it may have been the case.

Many other mods were done including some B-model updates. I rebuilt the engine and installed it. I didn’t want to paint the airplane as I liked the original aluminum look, but I did want to have the A-model graphics. After searching many sites and photos, I found the original 1950 scheme and contacted a sign company to measure the aircraft. It then submitted many versions until we had it right. Then the company installed the 3M wrap material onto the aircraft, which really brought the airplane alive from an “aluminum blob.” It has held up wonderfully since. I kept checking and rechecking everything until one day my neighbor, who had checked me out in his Citabria, said, “ For crying out loud, let’s just go fly this thing!” First flight was August 16, 2016, and I have enjoyed it very much since then.

I told the Mrs. when I first had the idea of doing a restoration that it was the project that mattered and that I didn’t care if it took me 10 years. Well, it took nine years and 10 months! Of course, I did move three times in that span and everything with it. I am now restoring an Aeronca 7AC to an L-16A. Call me crazy, but as my dad said while building the RV-6 in 1996, “You’ll miss the project and working on it when it is complete.” I thought, that’s just crazy! Turns out he was absolutely right!

Attention — Aircraft Builders and Restorers

We would love to share your story with your fellow EAA members in the pages of EAA Sport Aviation magazine, even if it’s a project that’s been completed for a while. Readers consistently rate the “What Our Members are Building/Restoring” section of the magazine as one of their favorites, so don’t miss the chance to show off your handiwork and inspire your peers to start or complete projects of their own. Learn more ->