Hello guys!
I have a question regarding which "scale" airplane to buy.
The options are cub and decathlon.
My lhs have both the blackhorse cub and decathlon in stock..
I already have a 52 2stroke engine, that will take care of the power
I"ve heard that the decathlon is more difficult to fly than a cub. Especially under takeof.
When it comes to aerobatics, I know that the decathlon is a winner but I want the best flying airplane.
I have standard servos, they will do the job, right?
So if anyone have some kind of experience with either one, please tell me!

There is a thread on the Phoenix Decath. Similar to the Blackhorse (Seagull).

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5185407/tm.htm

If your interest is primarily scale, the Cub might be the better choice; if aerobatics, then the Decath. It's a nice kind of problem to have, isn't it?

Well, I"m not that "scale" kind of guy, but I like it when they have some stand out features.
I guess you can say that I"m looking for a plane that is relaxing to fly.
But the decathlon has a rather short fuse? so it may be a bit "spongy" on the elevator?

The Decathlon is anything BUT spongy on the elevator and downright touchy on the rudder! I have both planes you are referring to. The Decathlon is a handful to get off the ground but an amazing flyer in the air. The Cub, if you get one around 80" or so, will be pretty good handling on the ground and a super relaxing flyer in the air, and yes thats with the .52! The Cub will be the better of the two if you decide to add floats later on. The Cub will be a better plane to do touch and go's with. Decathlon is definitely faster, more agile, and more aerobatic. Neither of these planes like to be horsed off the ground before they have built enough lift to support flight and if you do so they both will reward you with tip stalls and major repairs. I enjoy the Cub on fairly calm days and enjoy doing scale like take offs and landings and practicing with. Slow flight is it's specialty and it flys with the typical tail high attitude.
The Decathlon requires your attention the whole time but it rewards you with great snaps, knife edge flight, low inverted passes, speed, etc. Two totally different planes!

My "WM Evergreen Clipped Wing Cub" just might have been made by the same people who make the Blackhorse Cub. I've seen one Blackhorse cub and it looked identical except for the length of the wing. My Cub sucked. It had a couple of fatal design/construction flaws.

I've recently completed a Phoenix Decathlon that flies great. I saw one maidened just days before I maidened mine and learned a very useful lesson. Do not firewall the sucker to takeoff. If you're a "slam it and get the takeoff over with" kind of guy, skip the Decathlon. The rudder is effective as heck in the air, but before it's got airspeed on the ground seems to be ineffective. Just advance the throttle for takeoff, don't firewall it, and the rudder is no problem. I spent the last session with mine, doing touch and goes. Really was doing landing and goes. Slowed after touchdown until the tail came down. Just to see if it was going to give problems. It didn't. Of course, just because I was doing touch and goes, I still didn't firewall the throttle for the "goes" part.

There are a couple of fliers at my field who have the same opinion of cubs. They won't mess with them any more. Say they're lousy ground handlers.

wow! is a decathlon capable of knife edge flight!?
The world models 1/4 cub is starting to steal my atention..because I have a fuji 32 on the shelf..
What do you guys think of that combo?
I didn"t really thought that they was so tricky on the rudder.. but I guess it all comes with practise!

If you want relaxing flying, then get the Cub. The Decathlon can look like a tame flyer once you are used to it and give you lots of excitment if you are up for it that a Cub just isn't capable of. [8D]

i wouldn't go as far as to say that a cub is a relaxing flyer. i'm far more relaxed flying my "sport" planes like the decathlon (citabria) than i am with my cub... personally, i think the cub is harder to get off the ground than the sport flyers... but i'm flying the WM Cub 26 which is miniscule. why? the cub is big and clunky while the decathlon is nimble. the cub is generally underpowered in RC terms while the decathlon is generally overpowered. the big difference i think is in the kind of flying you want to do. if you want to do scale flying with limited acrobatics (not very axial rolls, not very round loops, very pretty hammer heads and equally nice stall turns, and the very occasional cubans) you're okay with the cub, but if you want to do pretty much all the standard sport aerobatics, get the decathlon.

the challenge of flying the cub is to make it as scale as possible. it makes you a better pilot. i hate to see people flying cubs that are overpowered and sliding all the way through the turns because they don't know how to use the rudder. the love of flying the cub is to get the turns coordinated using the rudder to turn and ailerons to hold it through the turn. too little and you're draggin the tail around the turn. too much rudder and go into a spin. fun! and talk about ground looping... my cub is the worst. when i put together my 81" TT, i'll let you know what i think about that one.

the decathlon might be a handful on the ground, but in the air you're back to sport flying you can only do on an overpowered RC plane... it's fun... but then it's a different kind of it :-) on that note, i love my citabria because it does everything i can do with any non-3D plane but does it with such class.

Yeah, I guess it is harder to learn using the rudder than people might think.
I"m most used to sport flying, not these scale taildraggers.
I"ve decided to buy a larger scale. I want at least 85 inches wingspan, so I can use my fuji 32 gas engine.
And if I find a Cub or Decathlon in that size, it will be possible to tow gliders as well:-)
The world models 1/4 piper cub looks like a great plane, especially since the price is so good!
I want, of course a plane that is adaptive in its response, and I have a feeling that the decathlon is not..
Am I right?

the piper cub does a great job in towing. someone at the field brings his WM 1/3 cub (50cc gasser) to the field and helps tow sailplanes as well as tow banners and give out candy (he has a bomb bay built into the bottom). he says that with most gliders, the cub doesn't even notice it's there. but the plane flies VERY SCALE... so don't think of doing too many crazy aerobatics.