ORIGINAL: RLefebvre
Yeah, I know about the need for coordination, and I'm working on it.... but it's not really instinctual yet. I haven't had a problem with it, however. The Cub is neat in that it's large enough and slow enough, you can SEE the opposite yaw when you don't do a coordinated turn.
Yeah, the disorientation sucks. The Cub is all yellow, but it's so big and slow I haven't had a problelm. I think with a Decathlon, the top of the wing is all red with the white startburst, and all white on the bottom, I shouldn't have a problem.
Whever I get to that Spitfire, I'm definitely putting invasion stripes on it!
How do the Decathlons really fly? When trying to figure out how slow it can land, I can't figure out how a symetrical airfoil affects it compared to a flat bottom, and factoring in wing loadings...
Some people have said they're really difficult because of the short coupling, but they say the same thing about the Cub, and I didn't have a problem. I've done a few ground loops, but no big deal.
With a short coupled taildragger, sometimes bending the main gear inward (meaning twisting the gear so that the front of the main wheels are very slightly pointed in, called toe-in) helps with the ground handling.
If you have a tailer than normal tailwheel mount, try using a shorter one or even a smaller tire. Cub wheels are usually quite larger to start with so going even bigger probably will not help much.
I have never owned a Decathalon but have flown maiden flights on 2 of them and I felt they were just like flying my H9 80" Cub. Just more aerobatic. Keep the throttle a couple of clicks above idle until you are just a few inches off the ground and then go to idle and flair ever so slightly and it should set right into a nice 3 point landing. That's how I did it and both times it just looked so pretty setting down. (2 maidens but about 4 takeoffs and landings each with normal basic aerobatics (rolls, loops, stall turns, etc... for the heck of it )
Maybe someone with more time on the Decathalon can chime and and give you more details on the flying traits.