Rick-
Can't vouch for an L-2 or L-4, but a military model L-3 is a different beast from the Champ or Chief. On our plane the rear seat could be turned towards the rear and a small map table could be folded down. Our L-3 had a non-working coffee grinder radio w/ a trailing antenna that was quickly removed from the plane because of weight issues.
But the biggest differences were in the airframe and wings. The fuselage was reinforced to military specs making the weight/balance critical. The tail was heavy compared to a Champ and one had to watch carefully the weight of your passenger and baggage. Gary's motto, "Fly naked" comes into play, here.
The airfoil on our L-3 wing was essentially the same used on the Chief. Our L-3 was marginally faster than a Champ, but the climb was abyssmal, (and that nearly got me killed). Not sure the wing was original L-3, but conversations with an couple of other L-3 owners confirm the W/B and the climb characteristics.
The Confederate Commemorative AirForce group at nearby St. Charles, MO.(KSET) owned a restored L-3 and it was placarded against anyone over 100 pounds in the rear seat. Another L-3 owner near Springfield was so spooked by the aircraft that he replaced the 65hp powerplant with an 85hp. His rationale:
"The hell with authenticity. I wanna survive."
Dennis,
There is one just like you described at DAW. As the story goes it had been painfully restored by a museum and then bought by its current owner. Looks great! table in the rear with reversible seat etc. The new owner didn't have much tail wheel time and so was a little afraid of it (yeah, I know) and so it sat.
Last year a harsh wind storm hit and apparently did some damage to the ailerons. Owner has yet to fix it and it continues to sit.
