Hey guys, looking for a little advice.

I learned to fly about 10 years ago on an Eagle 2. I got pretty good with it, eventually ripped the wings off doing aerobatics.

I took a 10 year hiatus, and just got back in.

I bought a H9 80" Cub and a Saito 56 to relearn. I just didn't want to do the trainer thing again. I really like scale planes, I just can't get excited about blocky looking planes. I had no problem at all with the Cub, and got my wings after about 5 flights. I've got about 20 on it now, and starting to move into aerobatics. I can to loops, rolls, hammerheads and tailslides. I want to move up to a more aerobatic plane, and I'd eventually like to get into a warbird.

I had a TT 46 Pro I bought long ago but never ran. Went to the LHS and saw a VMAR Harvard II (PC-9) 56" span. I thought it was a really neat model and bought it. Put it together, and took it up.

Had an experienced guy take off and land it for the first flight, but I did fly it and had no trouble at all. The second flight I took it up myself, flying around, no problem controlling it. I was starting to think about landing, was trying to come in low over the run way and go around another time. I was banking about 45 degrees, and the plane was falling, so I pulled up a little. I realized too late that it was banking at 45 degrees *inverted*. Down was up, and that's all she wrote.

I think I was able to control the plane, but it was a visibility problem. The plane was all flat dark blue. It was a little faster than I was ready for, but I think I could handle it.

I need another plane to put this motor in and move on.

I know I should probably go with a H9 US 40. But I just can't get excited about it. I know it's probably the perfect plane, more wing area, slower flight, I can learn flaps, low wing, etc....

But I REALLY like the idea of the TT Decathlon. It's got much more wing than that VMAR. It's bright, and still a high wing. I think I'd enjoy it more.... but I don't know if it's the right plane.

What do you think?

Welcome back...

With the way you have described your skills I woulld say have at it.

Flying a CUB is great for scale but rudder coordination is an absolute must with it which I am sure you already know. The Decathalon with be similair so you should have no problem.

Do you hate disorientation, sorry to hear about the "OOPPSS" with the VMAR.

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.

Oh, you've got a H9 Cub too, that makes me more confident that you can compare.

Which Decathlon models were you flying?