available. The Decathlon's gross weight a telephone weather briefing indicated a BellancaDecathlonAircraftis designedCorporation'sto do newone is greater than the Citabria's (1,800 steady improvement as we went south thing, and does it very well. The fully pounds to 1,650), which shows up in a and west. aerobatic two-placer is stressed for +6 slightly slower rate of climb (1,025 fpm We eased in full upwind , and -5 Gs. With a 150 hp Lycoming vs. 1,120 fpm) and a markedly longer downwind and throttle all at the mated to a Hartzell constant-speed prop, takeoff roll at higher altitude airports. same time as we taxied. Acceleration the new will do almost all the We had ample opportunity to observe was excellent in the cold weather and "outside" maneuvers that were formerly the Decathlon at altitude while crossing the gaudy Decathlon rolled smartly up restricted to "inside" gyrations with the the Rocky Mountains west of Denver on on the upwind (right) wheel as our -2 G-load limit of the Citabria. a ferry flight from Bellanca's plant to speed picked up. Torque and plenty The Decathlon is designed for air Sedona, Ariz., where it was to be picked of right rudder kept the nose of the show-off, aerobatic competition, but it up by its new owner. taildragger where it belonged until the also makes a superb aerobatic trainer. Decathlon No.8, N11855, was the ship really wanted to fly. (The new air• While it looks a bit like Bellanca's Cita• first unit of this new breed headed for foil has a distinctive feel on takeoff and bria line, the resemblance is not even the West Coast. Even in a bitter, freez• landing. It is completely different from skin deep. The new Decathlon has a ing crosswind at Osceola, Wis., it had the standard Citabria and somewhat fully inverted fuel and oil system that's to have the sexiest paint job since Eve. reminiscent of a heavily laden old "approved" for a full two minutes, but it The red-white-and-blue sunbursts, air Taylorcraft. ) has been flown for more than four min• show striping, a myriad of white stars As predicted by Bellanca's factory utes upside down. The wing has been and red-red struts made the ship look hands, I found the control forces were shortened by 18 inches, with an increase as though it were already on display. light, indicating sustained of four inches in wing chord, and We filled out the paperwork, eye• should be "no strain." We explored the there's an expanded aileron chord for a balled fuel topping after the Decathlon wonderful realm of inverted flight a faster, easier rate of roll. The airfoil was had been pried from its ice-filled tie• couple of days and a couple of thousand changed to a nearly symmetrical NACA downs and stowed our baggage. Useful miles later. 1412 which, according to experimental load on the Decathlon is 575 pounds, The Decathlon is easy to see both flight test engineer Mike Polad (AOPA which includes 40 gallons of fuel on in the air and on the ground. In ad• 194123), "provided a greatly increased cross-country, passengers and baggage. dition to the air show paint job, there negative coefficient with only a In spite of the added weight in beef-up, are two rotating beacons, one atop the very slight decrease in the positive lift however, this useful load is still some fin and the other between the landing coefficient. The smaller negative pitch• 50 pounds higher than the standard 150 gears. If you look closely, you can see ing moment coefficient of the 1412 air• hp Citabria because of the higher all-up reflections off this lower beacon on the foil permitted the negative incidence of gross weight of the Decathlon. bright wheel fairings. For conspicuous• the horizontal stabilizer to be reduced, We were grateful for the slightly ness, this system beats the predom• thereby decreasing tail drag and per• higher wing loading (10.7 pounds per inantly white or natural aluminum sur• mitting alignment of the stabilizers and square foot vs. 10) as we taxied out faces on many other production models. elevators in flight ... [and] has made into a shifty north wind of 20 knots Mike Dewey, who had bought the it possible to trim for 'hands-off' inverted that was blowing clouds toward Texas; Decathlon from Bellanca, arrived at the flight. " In pilot-language, the Decathlon flies just about as well inverted as it does right side up .. Heavier wing spars, closer rib spac• ing, larger struts and a redesign and It's heavier and faster than Citabria and has makings beef-up of the aft fuselage have pro• duced a redline speed of 180 mph vs. of a good aerobatic trainer, says evaluator. Control pressures the 162 mph on the Citabria. The red• line speed is limited by windshield less in steep turns and partial rolls than in Citabria strength. Development of a heavier windshield is now in the works to in• crease speed to 202 mph. Retrofit will be

JUNE 1972 I THE AOPA PILOT 21 I reverted to habit patterns dating way counterweighted to allow speed right up back to USAAF cadet instruction in to redline without overspeeding. In case PT-17 Stearmans and explored the of loss of oil pressure, the counter• wonderful world of rolls-over-the-rocks. weights force the prop into low rpm First, a straight-ahead stall and the horn (about 1,650), "thereby preventing over• The DECATHLON blows off-key, then accelerated stalls speeding and possible loss of propeller out of a turn. The Decathlon is honest, blades in case of inadvertent loss of but it flies a great deal like a heavy oil pressure," state Bellanca's engineers. AT-6. recoveries underlined this Only maneuvers never approved for picturesque table-top Sedona (Ariz.) characteristic. The symmetrical airfoil the Decathlon are tail slides and the Airport within minutes after we touched on the Decathlon makes you fly it all Lomcevak. According to Doug McCon• down. He was making a Shell Oil Com• the way through a spin recovery. (You nell, "There is no specific disapproval. pany TV commercial that will have a can't just relax on a maneuver and have We did not seek approval. Reverse flow billion "exposures" on the tube. The pro• the ship pop level as you can do with is too hard to stress-analyze and sub• duction team included 13 Hollywood the Citabria and some other light aero• stantiate for certification. Owners are experts, a turbocharged and batic trainers.) When you fly the De• doing both successfully and frequently." a very expensive gyrostabilized camera cathlon, plan for full rudder against the An accelerometer is required in the mount. spin for a half-turn and then definite aerobatic category. Entry speeds for the Shortly after sunup the next morning, forward stick to stop the rotation. After various standard maneuvers are: Mike explored the aerobatic capabilities that, don't hurry the recovery pullout of his sporty new Decathlon when a or you'll find a classic secondary stall. rare cloudy day X'd-out the TV com• (Nothing hazardous here-this is the mercial filming. After Mike had gone way a good aerobatic plane should through a complete aerobatic series, he react-but it is just a little different.) 521566111312678122 140607013014517590 The Decathlon will make an excellent mph knots landed with a self-satisfied grin, opened Slow/barrelVerticalVerticalEnglishSnapHammerheadImmelmannrollLoop,slowbuntslowrollroll-upnormalroll-(the or outsidedownfirstinvertedhalfloop)of an the door, climbed out of his bright blue trainer for those pilots who want to safety parachute, and shouted, "It's all learn "survival aerobatics." In my book, yours. Go have fun." that's just two maneuvers-spin re• We removed the back cushion from covery, and the capability to roll off the front seat to give me a little more your back in wake turbulence. (A split legroom. That front pit could be a prob• "S" in such a situation, and you're a lem to get out of, even though the moti• statistic! ) vation might be singularly urgent. There Rate of roll for the Decathlon is are three latches on the door, with delightful. A brochure lists the rate of one parallel to the front hinge line. 20 degrees a second, but that is a mis• You're strapped in with a chute, print. One-hundred and twenty degrees standard seatbelt, and shoulder harness. a second would seem to be more in line In addition, there's a two-inch twin -or 31/2 seconds for a full . aerobatic seatbelt with an individual The one really unusual feature of lock. (I added an extra thousand feet rolling around the skies in the new of maneuvering altitude for each of Decathlon came from the constant-speed the three restraints.) prop. You can do loops and associated After a half hour or more of rolling Sans baggage and passenger, N11855 flip-flops without ever touching the around the skies over Sedona, it was quickly found a home high in the sky. throttle, since the Hartzell propeller is with some reluctance that I finally did a half loop, slowly rolled out the top, made a clearing turn followed by a two-turn spin, then let down at 175 mph into a long 450 entry to the pat• tern. (Even inside the triple-latched cockpit, you can still hear the whistle of the wind through the struts. And on a cold day, this sure beats an open Decathlon vs. Citabria Specifications cockpit for comfort.) Citabria 7KCAB Time was when aerobatics were con• Decathlon 8KCAB sidered show-off maneuvers for the Category Normal & aerobatic Normal & Aerobatic dashing helmet-and-goggles set who FAR 23 CAR Part 4a needed massive ego injections. In this Load limit factor G +6 -3 G +5 -2 reporter's opinion, this is not so today. Never·exceed speed (mph) 180 162 Aerobatic training can make you a Powerplant Lycoming 10-320-E1A Lycoming IO-320-E2A better pilot and, what's more, it's great 150 hp @ 2,700 rpm 150 hp @ 2,700 rpm fun. Propeller Hartzell HC-C2YL-4/ Sensenich 74DM658-1 C07663-4 -56 An unplanned opportunity came up Fuel capacity (gal) 40 40 the next morning to compare the De• 8 8 cathlon and Citabria 150 back-to-back. Oil capacity (qt) One of the members of the TV com• Seating capacity 2 2 Gross weight (Ib) 1,800 1,650 mercial production crew tripped over a Empty weight (Ib) 1,225 1,128 tiedown cable in the chilly predawn. Re• Wingspan (ft, in) 32.0 33.6 sult: one dislocated collarbone, painful 10.7 10.0 but not critical. It's a slow, winding Wingloading (Ib/sq ft) 165 Wingarea (sq ft) 169 drive up Oak Creek Canyon to the Length (ft, in) 22.75 22.58 135 125 hospital at Flagstaff. Mike Dewey sug• Cruise speed (mph, 75% power) gested I ferry the injured man up ~ Stall speed (mph) 53 51 Top speed (mph) 145 130 his Citabria 150, Nl1867. The victim Rate of climb (fpm, sea level) 1,025 1,120 was eased into the back ~eat and I Service ceiling (ft) 16,000 17,000 warmed up the engine while a call was Base price $15,000 $10,750 made to have an ambulance meet us at Flagstaff's airport. Some dozen min• utes later, I parked in front of the terminal just as the ambulance drove

22 THE AOPA PILOT I JUNE 1972 "The Decathlon flies just about as well inverted as it does right side up," state authors. All photos by the authors up. After his shoulder was popped back into place, the victim wai A-OK and back at work later in the day. The standard 150 Citabria broke ground with a noticeably shorter roll than the Decathlon and climbed just a little more rapidly. I flew very gingerly on the trip to Flagstaff, naturally, but re• turning solo, there was an opportunity

Red·white·and·b/ue sunbursts, air show striping, and an abundance of bright white stars, show off Decathlon's "sporty" 'oak as it refuels at Alamosa, Colo.

Similarity of Decathlon (foreground) to the Citabria (background) is deceiving. Decathlon's wing is shorter, heavier and nearly symmetrical, and the aft fuselage has been beefed up. Mike Dewey (AOPA 255296), Santa Paula, Calif., is piloting the Decathlon in this side·by·side shot. His father, Jim Dewey, is at the Citabria's controls.

JUNE 1972 I THE AOPA PILOT 23 cathlon can be a little restricted though, tract from our flight. One of the first by the shoulder harnesses for the front things the Decathlon we ferried got seat. from its new owner was an extra pair In the "nit-picking" department, the of fasteners on each side of the cowl. The DECATHLON Decathlon I flew was noisy in the cock• (The very first thing the owner did pit compared to the Citabria. We both was to replace the front main bearing used cotton in our ears on the cross• seal, which leaked a little oil on the country legs. The increase in noise level ferry flight to Sedona.) is probably associated with the prop, The fine-tuning vernier control on to compare control pressures in steep since the fixed-pitch paddle on the Cita• the constant-speed prop does its job turns and partial rolls. The aileron pres• bria seemed more quiet. (Prior to our well, but its location below the instru• sures on the Citabria are much heavier departure from Bellanca's plant with the ment panel makes it difficult to reach to push around. The Citabria feels• Decathlon, personnel there used two while moving the throttle. An old• and is-lighter in all-up weight, but the rolls of sponge rubber to fill the "whistly" fashioned throttle quadrant from a Decathlon with its symmetrical airfoil, space behind the windshield at the wing WW-II AT-6 might seem more fitting has more float on landings. root. It was most appreciated.) in the sporty Decathlon. Visibility from the front seat of Also, I'd like to see a double latch At six-foot two inches, I can just either aircraft is outstanding. The system on the engine cowl to match reach the sealed gas caps on the De• "greenhouse roof" gives a surprising the extra locks on window and door. cathlon and a visual mark on the cap, amount of around-the-corner visibility On previous ferry flights of Citabrias, as seen from the trailing edge, would in tight turns as you look "up" through we have resorted to gun tape to assure give an added check that the caps were the roof. Back-seat visibility in the De- that a loose Dzus (fastener) didn't de- down and locked. Another little item of the nit-picking variety involves the fact that N11855 had a IV2-system Genave radio with an inexpensive microphone that left considerable to be desired. In addition to being noisy, the microphone is mounted so that the pilot's natural reaction is to talk into the "back side" of the transmitter with zero-by-zero re• sults. The omni bearing rotation knob on the Genave also chose to turn only in a clockwise direction, but that was only a minor annoyance. Overall, and looking at the flight check in retrospect, it's safe to say that both old-timers and neophytes should enjoy the delightful inside-and-outside world of the new Decathlon. 0

This photo, dubbed "two-in-a-turn" by the authors, shows timing used in air show formation flying. Note sun glinting off almost identical surfaces of both aerobatic planes.

Bellanca Aircraft Corporation's 150 hp Decathlon takes off from the table-top airport at Sedona, Ariz. Plane has a top speed of 145 mph and can climb out at 1,025 fpm.

24 THE AOPA PilOT I JUNE 1972

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