Well this plane has certainly been a handful and put me into place.

I crashed on the second flight while taking chances out of frustration, I deadsticked on the third day just after takeoff, and today after losing control on the runway, taxiing around and taking off, I was not able to get power in the air and landed 5' short of the runway, snapping the aluminum engine mount.

I am lucky that this is the only real damage to the plane (along with some other minor CA repairs) and against my natural instincts of bashing the plane with something big and hard into a pile of splinters I am NOT giving up on this plane. Of course this is because I understand that it's not the plane, it's the pilot.

I definitely had a lot of expectations (which equal premeditated resentments) of this plane and engine. I was not expecting breaking-in and tuning this engine to be an issue (OS 55AX) and it most certainly has (have had several people with notable tuning experience help me out). I was also thought I was expecting more performance out of the plane, though what I totally didn't realize was that I have been flying the prop since day 1, without knowing what that meant until a few days ago.

This plane is teaching me a lot of lessons. This hobby requires some patience sometimes. I got lucky with my first engine and planes in that they all flew great on the first day (because they were being flown by the prop, so minor adjustments to the airframe were able to be neglected). I definitely lack experience (and trainers and low wing trainers like the Dolphin/Four Star essentially fly themselves). There are a lot of really great people in this hobby who are willing to help and want to see me succeed. Rushing into planes and equipment is a bad idea, and making decisions based on certain deals can lead to very undesireable results. Expensive equipment and good looking planes do NOT guarantee simplicity and fun.

Anyway, the plane is very fixable, and WILL BE very flyable. I am embarrased to say that I neglected the outcome of too much control surface throw; I thought I was going to get lots of action out of the plane, when all I really got was a ton of drag added to the flying surfaces leading to stall conditions. When flying the prop, tons of throw will make your plane twist and turn do wild things at high speeds behind the prop, and the power of the prop will allow you to be careless and give you time to correct. Flying the wing is TOTALLY different. You can only make drastic moves when the plane is ready, and EVERYTHING takes more care, concentration, and understanding.

I wouldn't yet call my Super Decathlon a blast to fly. I had a few nice flights with it especially when I switched to 10% fuel and reduced the throw (engine running better and less drag on the wings), and one day (hopefully in the near future) I will get to understand the plane, learn to fly it, and perform some actual aerobatics the way real planes can perform them.

Thanks for reading, hope to have a positive update in a week or two.