I learned to fly in a J3 back in 1969 and carried an ingrained and unsupported dislike of Champs for many years even though I had never so much as sat in one. After years of renting Cessnas, Grummans and Piper Cherokees I found that if you wanted to rent a taildragger the only choice you usually had was a Citabria so I tried that and thought hey, this ain't bad at all. Then one day I stumbled upon this '58 90hp 7EC Champ for a price I couldn't refuse so I bought it. That was 12 years ago. Sure there's the open door thing but you can take the door off a Champ and fly it okay if you want. The only thing is that even with a Cub after about half an hour or so you just want to close it. Enough wind is enough wind already. I still love Cubs but now I love Champs too. They are both easy to fly but it takes practice and skill to fly them gracefully and keep that ball between the lines.

Excellent video! We are starting a "Cub Club" here at a local grass strip with a '39 J3 .. it's in process of being put back together at the moment.. seriously can't wait! The Cub is an definitely iconic airplane, and I do agree about the coolness factor....

I taught zero timers at Ag Flight in Champ 7AC and Ag Ops in SuperCub. I liked teaching in J-3 from up front fine, but the back seat almost on the floor of the SuperCub with feet near butt level was hard on my back. The 7AC seat in back is a bit higher and more comfortable. I ended up with a ruptured disk. All good airplanes.

Cub pros: 1. Fly with the door open 2. You can chase deer and not outrun the deer 🤣 For real though, solid info! My father's building a C-90 champ I can't wait to fly, but I wouldn't turn down that cub door in the summer!

I was able to start my 46 Champ standing in front of the door and reaching inside to where I could close the throttle or turn the switch off. I always used this method when I had the skies on in the winter. Summer I removed the door completely just because I could.

I owned two Aeronca Defenders years ago and a Piper J5, liked the Defender's landing gear but also liked the J5, they were all good flying and fun airplanes and were cheap to buy back then, never paid over $2800 for any of them, back then we did most of our own work and recovering on our planes

I learned to fly a long time ago in (mostly) 7AC Champs but also a J-3 Cub, both 65 hp. I definitely prefer the Champ, because (1) you fly from the front seat, (2) it cruises 10 mph faster, and (3) to me it's lighter on the stick and requires less movement of the stick.

Have flown both. For some reason I like the Champ. Can't say why. Just feels right.

Wonderful video for a wonderful pair of great airplane. I used to own an Aeronca champion 7AC with tricycle landing gear configuration originally installed in factory. I like Cubs and super cub much more. Then, why did I buy sn Aeronca? Pretty simple: on México you don't have many options and cub and pa18 are so scarse so I had to decide to go for the Aeronca. It wasn't bad whatsoever. The little one resulted in a great "running back" , excellent floater, hard to climb, hard to make 80 MPH or so once airborne but in general terms, fun and acceptable. I'm 63 and still waiting for a lucky moment to get my super cub. Nevertheless, a cub is my second choice. Thank you so much for this comparison and please, keep up the great work you do. Kudos!

Time in both and the Taylorcraft, but prefer the Champ and owned a Champ for the reasons detailed here and in the comments. Looking for another 'project' one. Well detailed comparison 👍👍

The Aeronca Champ to own was called the Citabria!

Another of the differences is that a Cub has a 3 mph window for a perfect 3-point landing. The Champ has a different airfoil providing a 7 mph window for a 3-point landing.

Aeronca used a float fuel gauge, (from a Model "A" Ford, I believe) but it provided indication on a small gauge that you would view inside the cockpit. Not the outside wire gauge like the Cub. Many Champs have been changed to the floating wire type because of its simplicity :)

Flew both and would chose the Champ EVERY time.

Excellent!

The deciding thing for me would be that the Aeronca can be flown solo from the front seat.

I got my PPL in a Cub. Sweetest little airplane ever!. I'm too old to fly full size now ... failed medical but i can fly RC. Guess what? My favorite model is a 1/4 scale J3. Who knew?

old man was IA and had numerous. Cubs and "Airknockers". Even nose geared J-3 that was idiot proof ! flown both models in different engines 65-85-90. 7ac faster and heavier - Cub lighter and when "washing wings" "in and out" you get a fast or slow Cub as in long cross country .

The passenger in the cub doesn’t sit in the front seat. When you solo a J-3 you have to sit in the back for w/b but, 4:19 if you have a passenger, you can fly from the front seat

PA-11 vs Champion AC? I’ll take the PA-11. But J3 vs Champ? Champ

And the J-3 Cub was designed by Taylor, not Piper. Still wondering why the US Army chose the J-3 over the Wittman Buttercup though. Perhaps J-3 was easier to fly or simpler to make, or had more manufacturing support (but any company could have been contracted to make Buttercups, as was done many times in WW2).

7:05 time in your video you show a picture of a red and white champ. Where did you come across this picture?

hmmm . . . i noticed neither plane had a skid-slip indicator, needle and ball, if you will . . . why not?

I prefer a full coweled version, like the PA-11. And more horsepower. Like a 100 or 115 hp Lycoming.

Airport Manatee!