My 1995 Super Decathlon :-)

Jeanie

Jeanie

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Dec 15, 2008
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Alpine, TX
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Display name:
Jeanie
Kevin and I signed a contract yesterday w/ Sam Dawson to buy his Super Decathlon. I'm very excited about it as you can imagine. :D


Next I'd like to get a practice area for E38. :yesnod:
 

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AdamZ said:
Fantastic!!!! Fly her well and enjoy. Is this your first plane?
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No, I have a 1981 Cessna 152 also. Will prolly keep it to use for student training that is if the insurance doesn't eat us alive. If it looks like that won't work then I will have to sell her. But not quite yet. Going to give it 6-9 mos to pan out...

It's my first tailwheel airplane....:eek:
 
Jeanie, didn't some-one warn you that aerobatics was addictive!
It looks very nice - just like mine!

I second the comment - don't do snaps.
 

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Dean said:
Just like you Tony, looking for a free ride.:D:D
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i'll be flying gliders in Marfa this spring. sure would be cool to be able to get a tow if i landed out in alpine.
 
Thanks Ya'll.... I know not to do snaps in it. Bad for plane - costly for pilot....
as far as I know it's never been snapped - it's in annual now and they are looking for every little thing. Actually found a small crack in a weld, maybe 1/8 inch, of the fuselage frame where it meets the landing gear - not at the landing gear apparently next to it - Sam is sending a picture to me of it. I might post it here. He's going to call ACA and ask them about spot welding it.
I don't know about the tow hook, Tony, I'll check on that and get back to ya'...
How about if I use a truck and tie you to that and drive REAL fast on the runway? would that work?
 
that would work Jeanie. although I'd have to get a ground launch endorsement first. and you wouldn't have to drive that fast. 45 would probably be plenty.
 
Tow hook is really easy, send ~$1200 to American Champion and they send you $200 dollars worth of parts and $1000 peice of paper saying it works on the Decathlon.

I have heard rumors the FAA is getting better about letting your mechanic Fabricate one per FAR 43 like they used to do, but it is only a rumor.

I have done 2000+ ft launches with a truck pulling me but we had used about 3 miles of dry lake to do it.

Brian
 
So...you'll be flying IAC 107's 'Hill Country Hammerfest' in August in Llano?? :yesnod:

Eric
 
tonycondon said:
that would work Jeanie. although I'd have to get a ground launch endorsement first. and you wouldn't have to drive that fast. 45 would probably be plenty.
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So, I'll check the runway length and all that - maybe it would work... Couldn't Burt just send the tow guy over from Marfa and take care of you that way? Really, I know nothun much about truck tows other than it happens.
 
whifferdill said:
So...you'll be flying IAC 107's 'Hill Country Hammerfest' in August in Llano?? :yesnod:

Eric
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Weeeellll, maybe not competition but I could come over that way and help out and meet and greet and see what it's like. The guy from whom I'm buying the plane might want to compete. I'll mention it to him. I know the Llano airport and the mechanic, Gary, there is a good guy.
I mostly want to aim for the basic "not competition" patch. I'd like to get good enough to get up to intermediate except for the snaps!

But for now, just easy peasy fun stuff is what I'm looking to do.

We did an inverted spin last lesson and that was interesting. I'm going to work on how to fix botches with a CFI so when I'm practicing solo I'll know I can save myself as needed :yikes:
 
Jeanie, you could safely fly Intermediate in this airplane for fun if you didn't care about winning. Check out this video of the Super D flying the 2010 Intermediate Known, from Adam Cope in the DC area:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8296k7uREw

Also stolen from another forum:

"My experience is that snapping decathlons will cause fuel leaks. There have been other issues as well, but I feel the others are from snapping fast. For this reason I will typically not snap the Decathlon (at least not ones that would score well.) When I do fly the Decathlon in Intermediate it is for fun and my only goal is to score 70% overall. If there happens to be a snap on a 45, I will fly through it. I will do level snaps at 70 mph. This obviously will not result in a very "snappy" snap but it won't be a zero either. The avalanche is a fairly easy snap since it is such low speed so I don't feel to bad doing that one.

My intermediate flights in the Super D are kept in the green arch and +4 -2 max. Again your not got to bring home wood, but the plane lasts a lot longer this way."

_________________
Adam Cope
www.dcaerobatics.com
703-623-9445

Eric
 
Nice vid. I'm collecting music to listen to on my ipod when I fly but I think in the beginning I'll forego the music and just call out the maneuvers to myself as I'm learning. And then when I've got the inputs firmly in my body memory I'll throw in some sound
 
Jeanie said:
But for now, just easy peasy fun stuff is what I'm looking to do.
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:) Yep, there are a lot of different levels that one can enjoy with aerobatics. A person doesn't need to compete to enjoy aerobatics. So, don't let yourself be pressured in that area. There are endless adventures and challenges with flying, and with aerobatics in particular and you can do whatever feels good. :) For a lot of us a LAROSA (A loop and a roll on a Sunday afternoon) is satisfying enough. Some of us like to take others for an aerobatic ride. Some of us try competition and/or write an article about it. ;) Some of us like to make videos about aerobatics. Some like to teach aerobatics. I like to take Tom, but I make him sick. :redface:

I would like to join in on the recommendations not to snap your airplane.
 
Thanks Diana... I enjoyed your articles by the way in case I hadn't already told you....

And I promise :aureola: NO SNAPS....
 
That is way cool, Jeanie! Congratulations!
 
Is the no-snap rule because of wood spars? Does the metal spar fix that? I'm not really conversant with Decathlon details.

If you did want an economical, Intermediate-level aerobat, what are the choices?

(Snap rolls look like fun. I'd hate to be prohibited from them.:D)
 
The FBO I rent from has one. I spoke to them about bummin a ride in it, and they say the guy who flies it has been looking for some to take (how hard could that be?!). So it may happen.
 
flyersfan31 said:
Is the no-snap rule because of wood spars? Does the metal spar fix that? I'm not really conversant with Decathlon details.

If you did want an economical, Intermediate-level aerobat, what are the choices?

(Snap rolls look like fun. I'd hate to be prohibited from them.:D)
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See post #18
 
flyersfan31 said:
If you did want an economical, Intermediate-level aerobat, what are the choices?
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djpacro said:
That's why I got a Pitts S-2A (still have my 150 hp fixed pitch Decathlon)
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Or as economical as it gets would be a 180 hp Experimental Pitts S-1C. These can be had in the low 20's and would be competitive in Intermediate. I've seen flying S-1 Pitts' anywhere from $15K-60K (factory S-1T), which is a decent Advanced airplane.
 
Missa said:
I'll join the "you suck" crowd. :D And hope for the day when I am the object of the "you Suck" crowd. :lol:

Enjoy the airplane, she is a beauty.
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Hey Missa,

The plane in your Avatar looks like a decathlon... so??? is that your plane? If so you are already in the "you suck" crowd!

J
 
Jeanie said:
Hey Missa,

The plane in your Avatar looks like a decathlon... so??? is that your plane? If so you are already in the "you suck" crowd!

J
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It was only a Citabera. N55CW is the airplane I got my tailwheel endorsment in. It was a rental at PTK. I keep the picture as my avatar in remembrance:

http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5482&highlight=Crash+PTK

I haven't flown a tailwheel in 4 years (with the notable exception of the back seat of the Citabuleberry) since I moved to central PA. It's been hard to find a tailwheel out for rent here.

Missa
 
Oh Dear. My bad. :redface: I'm behind the times on what had happened. I'm so sorry if my comment seemed thoughtless.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Missa said:
It was only a Citabera. N55CW is the airplane I got my tailwheel endorsment in. It was a rental at PTK. I keep the picture as my avatar in remembrance:

http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5482&highlight=Crash+PTK

I haven't flown a tailwheel in 4 years (with the notable exception of the back seat of the Citabuleberry) since I moved to central PA. It's been hard to find a tailwheel out for rent here.

Missa
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No, it didn't seem thoughtless. It is going on 5 years now. It was actually a good remembrance for me to go back and re-read that thread. I keep the picture because I loved to fly N55CW so much and to remember the cost each of us risk when we tempt fate a little too much.

I've also gotten several PM's from other students of Geno when they find this board beacause of that picture. Remembering the good is the way we keep them alive.

This is my favorite memory: http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3907

Missa
 
Nutz.... now I'm itching to go look at trade a plane and think about buying one agian. If only I had someone to partner without here...
 
Maybe you could post a partner wanted sign at the local FBO? Or would that leave you open to someone you might not want to partner with? Maybe a local IAC Chapter would know a good candidate?
 
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