They have the same issue on the ground as they do in the air. People don't respect them.

There is nothing "wrong" with the design, but the pilot must always be aware that they are not flying a sport plane. Now granted, some manufacturer's Decathlons are easier to handle than others, but in general, a Decathlon was designed to be a highly aerobatic airplane capable of flying in airshows to "Wow" the crowd - Not a private plane for flying to the next town for breakfast.

Where the problem starts is that it LOOKS like a little private sport plane - Fly it like one, and it will bite you.

I'll tell you the story of my 40-size Decathlon... I loved this plane. I really enjoyed flying it and never had a lick of problems with it. My brother came to visit and I let him fly it. He took off with less than full power and the plane immediately went into a torque roll to the left and crashed (only minor damage). I was standing next to him and immediately after the crash he showed me that he was holding full right aileron the whole time.

I told him, "It doesn't matter, you took off before you had sufficient flying speed"

Now, our dad happend to be standing there too, and he disagreed. "That plane had plenty of speed to tke off"

"Yes", I said, "It had enough speed to take off, but not enough speed to FLY"

Well, in the summer, I'm far too busy doing reviews to do any repairs, so I gave the plane to my dad. He repaired it and called me one day to meet him at the field to watch him fly it (He wanted to prove to me that it would fly as gently as a Cub). When I got there, he was picking up the pieces.

A few weeks later, he had it repaired again. I met him at the field and he was flying it. He floated it in for a landing (which, in itself is ok) and he said, "Look, just like a Cub". I said, "It's NOT a Cub!" and as soon as his wheels touched, he zipped up the throttle and promptly torque rolled it into the ground.

This is the "problem" with Decathlons. They LOOK like a Cub, but they have a short tail moment, so they need to have some air flowing over that tail to keep it from snapping on you.

It's not a problem with the design, it is designed to be snappy so it will do snappy aerobatics.

If you want something you can fly without thinking about it, don't get a Decathlon. On the other hand, if you keep in mind that you need to keep your speed up a little, the Decathlon is one of the most fun planes you can ever own!