rc-sport

My Feedback: (12)

My mentor has one and its the worst flying plane I've ever seen. Its ground handling is unpredictable, he added a gyro to the rudder to help. It snaps all over the sky, he says this plane is going in the hangar. This man is an excellant flier and a very skilled builder so you can rule out those two problems. He did not build in any washout in the wings. Becareful with this plane, its a bugger.

Lomchevak

While I have never owned a Super D. I do own a 40 size Nosen Citabria which is just an old version of the Decathalon, I had the same experiance with tip stalling on takeoff, rekitted itself on the first flight, I later scratch built one from the plans that I still have today. One of the guys I flew with at the time was a TOC contender who explained a few things about the plane. These are short coupled squirrly aircraft that were meant to be inherently unstable at slow flying speeds, this makes them snap like crazy. They require gobs of ground speed to get off the ground and some power on landing, if flown correctly they are a super blast. Ya just have to fly them at all times. They don't fly themselves, (at all) Hope this helps,

Sincerely, Tom aka: Lomchevak.

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

EZ Decathlon and loved it. It was a cream puff. It was easy to take off and landed well either three point or wheel landing. It slipped well also. My best quess about your situation is that it must be tail heavy. If there is someone around that you trust and has more experience, let them have a shot at it.

smartman300

My Feedback: (4)

What looks like the problem is that this plane seems to be too heavy (for what I heard). I guess you can drill some lightening holes in the fuse and let off on the epoxy!!!!
I also heard these planes don't like to float, but believe me, a plane light enough will glide all day!!!


Remember: a nose heavy plane flys poorly, a tail heavy plane flys once (if that)!!!!

Dago Red

My Feedback: (11)

I have a GP decathalon, put a .70 4 stroke on it and it flew good, even with the covering missing from the bottom of the wing, came off on maiden flight. I bought it from a friend, he also had tip stalling problems, underpowered. I had no problems, came in nicely, smoth rollout, all came to a end though. I fliped it on a landing about 3 foot high and then broke off the tail. aafter about 6 months of laying around, it had a falcon 3 come threw the side of it. anyone want to buy a damaged decathalon for $30, i wpould rathe u pay for shipping, equal trades accepted, not much of a trade there though. lol.

rc_flyboy1

I too have the GP Super Decathlon . I built alot of washout in the wing and that seemed to help. It still needs speed to fly though. A member in my club flies a full scale decathlon and he told me that take offs with the model is alot like his full scale. Up elevator and some right rudder. As your speed increases , you can let off on the elevator and let the tail wheel come off the ground, but maintain however much right rudder you need to keep the plane straight.

MacAir

I just ordered the (now) discontinued GP Super Decathlon - found it as old inventory online, and the last one!

I appreciate all of the input and will build it with "washout". I'll be fitting it with a OS .46FX and a Pitts muffler.

It should arrive in the next few days and I'm excited about getting it. I want it to be a "good little brother" to my Carl Goldberg Super Decathlon. There's just something about this plane that gives me a woody... or maybe it's the Barbi pilot? Hmmm...

Either way, thanks for the input.

Dago Red

My Feedback: (11)

speaking of barbi pilots---I put one in my agwgon that looked like brittney spears ---had a bikini on. Im building a midwest citabria---with a 81 inch wingspan---its the lil bro of the other citabria--with a 106 inch wingspan. im putting a .90 ASP -no cowling on the plane till the engine is broke in good, maybe with a pitts muffler when i can afford it.

MacAir

Dago Red,

Would you p-p-p-please submit some photos of the Citabria (and Barbi)?

These planes are just SOOO good looking. Have you seen kit (plans) from "Wendell Hostetler"?
Check this out, IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!!

http://www.aero-sports.com/whplans/decathlon.html
I'll bet that little Ms. Barbi would love to have a "David Clark" headset and "Oakleys".

Dago Red

My Feedback: (11)

this is a pic of my nosen citabria, it needs to be restored- mice got in to it and kinda tore it up. Ill see if I can get a picture if the one im building--I dont own a digital camera--i have to barrow one. youll have to agree this citabria looks ugly in the pic--but also looks good---and as barbie goes, ill try to get her pic in the plane when is built. shes scared of flying ever since the first agwagon crashed,full throttle----found her with dirt on her and naked---lol.

wild fred

My Feedback: (3)

I had one, put a magnum 60 in the nose. that engine used to quit ALL THE TIME! overheated, I think. Anyway, never had any problems with the way the plane flew. did great avalanches. deadsticked all the time. Of courese, I did watch my airspeed, as short coupled airplanes are notorious for the beforementioned behavior. had a h-9 cub with asp 61 that flew great, knife edged, etc; but if you punched it on takeoff it would JUMP off the ground in 10 feet, and I almost lost it a couple times; you know what it looked like; hard on it's side, I jammed ail. and rudder over, hard on other side, repeat a couple times until speed up, wipe off sweat... but again, don't be too scared of g.p. decathlon. keep it light, speed up, maybe use low rates for takeoff.

Dennis DiBona

Well a close friend of mine, that is and EXCELLENT builder and flier by the way, flew his once. Made a nice Bon FIRE out of it in the back yard. Said " I wouldn't give this thing to my worse enemy". And as far as the manufacture not knowing of any bad flying traits this plane has, well either they talk to no one about their products or are not going to admit the flying challenge this plane is. I have flown 4 different ones and they all do the same thing. YOU MUST have them going like the proverbial BAT out of you know where before you take off. and the short tail moment does not help with the ground handling either.

Dago Red

My Feedback: (11)

I must of had a wierd decathalon then, it flew like a charm, with the .70 4 stroke in the nose. glided good. looped good---but i didnt push it---it wasnt built that great--the builder put 2 hindges on the ailerons. 2 on each side of the elevator. I had to remount the wing. i had seen the plane crash a few months earlier, and they rebuilt it--i flew it after a trade---and loved it---till it flipped over and busted the tail off on landing--my mistake.

Not24

My Feedback: (1)

I had a friend who experienced the same stalling on take-off. I wasn't there to see it, but it sounds exactly like what the originator of this post described. I saw the plane one time before he flew it. I noticed that the incidence on the horiz stab was not like the full scale Citabria. The full scale plane has about -5 deg of incidence. I remember this distinctly because when you look back at the tail in level flight, it looks like you are holding about 1/4 down elevator. The reason for this on the Citabria was that it was a carryover from the old Aeronca Champ. The Champ flew on 65 horsepower, and the Citabria had 150. My guess is that if you moved the CG forward to 30% chord and changed the inidence in the tail to about -2.5 deg, it would fly like it should.

APG_Spyder

I almost went with a .40 size decathlon...heards lots of bad stories on several different makes of the same plane. Went with the Dynaflite Giant scale and have had a great time with it.....builds easy, flies great and is very impressive looking. Transporting becomes a different task though...

cropdusterdave

My Feedback: (2)

Same thing happened to me. 4 snap rolls on takeoff. Hanging in my rec room for the past 6 years with a broken motor mount unflown. Too much work building this thing to wreck it the first day. really pissed me off man.

EBHolmes

I have a GP Super Decathlon powered by an O.S. 70 4-cycle with a 12x8 Zinger prop. Ground handling is like any short coupled tail dragger, so advance the throttle slowly, hold up elevator to keep the tail wheel on the ground and right rudder to counter the engine torque until the tail is ready to fly, ease off of the elevator, hold the right rudder as necessary and once you have gained enough airspeed, apply up elevator and the plane flies great. It's not a trainer, and it's not a grossly over-powered 3D model that will hang on the prop. Fly it like the full scale version, use the recommended low rate deflections for takeoff and you should not have any problems. Mine does not have washout and I intentionally stalled it at high altitude and did not depart into a spin. Recovery was easy. Landing was also no problem.

xlentflyer40

Hey I have been reading all these horrible things about Decathlons and I just finished building one with an OS 61 four stroke. I was wondering if all these problems occur with all
Super Decathlons?
F.Y.I mine is not a GP

Dago Red

My Feedback: (11)

i think youll have no prob, i had one with a .70 4 stroke, flew perfect.

Or get the midwest citabria--AWSOME PLANE, easy to build--mine was ready in 4 weeks.

tms

I was given a set of plans and a wing (no wash out). They were all that remained from an argument with gravity and a hard surface. I scratch built the rest. I got hold of the instructions from the GP website. The only thing I did was to move the G of G forward by 1/4". It had its test flights yesterday. The take off was uneventful and due to a bad glow plug the motor quit shortly after take off. Fortunately, I had enough altitude to bring it around and it performed a perfect three pointer. Changed the plug took it up again, it needed very little trim. Third flight started to put it through its paces. Rolls are very fluid, inverted only needed a tiny amount of down elevator, snap-rolls uneventful, stall turns crisp short, touch and go's very scale like.

I don't see what the fuss is all about. I built the it as per the plan, I assume these were the early plans as there is no mention of wash out for the wings. It has an Irvine 46 up front turning and APC 11.5 * 5. I can see this plane becoming one of my favorites and it may be a candidate for a camera ship.

ksechler

Man, seems like there's a fair amount of Decathalon bashing here (and some praise). I've had one for 2 years powered by an Enya .50. I love it once I learned 2 cardinal rules. Don't take-off slow and don't land slow. This is an AEROBATIC airplane. It's supposed to be able to snap. Unfortunately, it'll do it during take-off and landing if you try to make it fly too slow. I know because I rekitted mine on the third flight.

Here's the key to a good take-off. Make sure the gear is setup right. The plane should track straight (that way you don't have to fight it). Open the throttle slowly and use the rudder to stay on the centerline. If your in grass use a little up elevator to keep the tail down, but get the heck off of it as speed comes up. Get a lot of speed on and, if needed, use the gentlest touch of up to break ground. If it drops an wing, push the nose DOWN and correct with RUDDER. Do not use the ailerons -it'll snap.

This isn't a beginers plane. It's not even a good second plane. It is a good third plane and is a heck of a lot of fun if you use BOTH sticks to fly. Mine is a tremendous flyer and I plan to have it for some time to come.

MormonMike

My Feedback: (2)

Ksechler, Your 100% right on all the Decathlon facts. Take off fast, fly fast,land it fast. Ace RC Decathlon with Saito.80 12-8 prop. Works "peachy".

spearchucker

I had the honor of crashing one of these a couple times myself. I was testing it for my brother and we ended up with a pile of sticks. I do believe the problem is tip stalling due to insufficient speed on takeoff. What happens is the center part of the wing begins to fly first due to prop wash. The wing tips (where the ailerons are located) are not ready to fly yet, so when you pull the nose up, the tips stall. It acts very much like a real airplane in that the most deeply stalled wing drops which starts the cartwheel effect. When you try to correct the roll with aileron, you cause a higher angle of attack on the stalled wing and since it is already stalled, it just drops further and faster.

As in a real aircraft, the way to recovery is to keep the ailerons neutral and use rudder to the side of the low wing. This will pick up that wing and prevent worsening of the stall. You must also keep the nose down and build airspeed. As a preventive measure, there are several things you can do. One is to build the much mentioned wing washout. This will cause a little more lift in the outer section of the wing and prevent the stall by getting the whole wing to fly at once. You may pay a price in inverted performance, but you can't very well fly inverted if you can't get off the ground without crashing, can you? You could also try using a two stoke engine with a cruise (steeper pitch) prop. That will give you less climb performance, but it will also prevent the tendency to try to take off to early and steep. You could try setting both ailerons with an equal bit of down position at neutral on the control. That is a quick and easy way to see if washout would help without rebuilding a wing. Balance is also important, but remember that you have a little higher performance airplane and you need to think ahead of it.

On landing, don't get low and slow and then expect to power out of it. You can face the same disaster.

Hope this may help.

sef

try this web site,http://www.greatplanes.com/techsuppo...a0185tech.html
and use lots of ground speed before liftoff, and pull back on the elevator eeeeeeasy to take off
make your turns wide untill you get a good feel for the plane,,,,,

Spacey

I do not know what all the fuss was about with this plane. I love mine! It sure is not your average second sport plane that I am sure of but I have flown much worse. I got mine 95% built out of a guy's garage. Had to put some washout in with the covering. Moved the CG way forward and this thing flies awesome. Very bad ground handling but only if you do not treat it with respect. Nurse it out and it takes off just like a trainer. I land mine like the full scale one. Keep the engine going and make sure you do not pitch the nose up for the the flare untill you are virtually on the ground. Very nice looking plane in the sky and great fun to fly.