Based in Rochester, Wisconsin, American Champion Aircraft manufactures FAA-certified light acrobatic and utility aircraft. Founded in 1988, the company acquired ownership of the type certificate for aircraft stemming from Champion Aircraft, which Robert Brown founded in 1954 to produce the 7AC design that Aeronca had previously introduced. Champion Aircraft would eventually produce the 7ECA Citabria (that’s “Airbatic” spelled backwards) and its 7GCAA and 7GCBC variants, as well as the 7KCAB.
In 1970, Bellanca Aircraft acquired Champion Aircraft and would later introduce the 8KCAB Decathlon and 8GCBC Scout. Roughly a decade later, Bellanca’s assets were liquidated, and toward the end of the 1980s, American Champion Aircraft acquired the designs for the Champ, Citabria, Decathlon, and Scout. In 1993, the company brought the Scout back into production.
American Champion Aircraft currently offers the 7EC Champ, 7ECA Citabria Aurora, 7GCAA Citabria Adventure, 7GCBC Citabria Explorer, 8GCBC Scout, 8GCBC Denali Scout, 8KCAB Super Decathlon, and 8KCAB Xtreme Decathlon. Introduced in 2012, the Xtreme Decathlon featured a more powerful engine than the Super Decathlon.