Decathlon 40

About

The Decathlon is the aerobatic flagship of the Citabria/Champ family tree, descended from the post-war Aeronca Champ via the Champion Citabria. Champion Aircraft Corporation introduced the Model 8KCAB Decathlon in 1970 as a stronger, more powerful sibling to the Citabria, and the type entered full production in 1972. The name was deliberate: the Decathlon was meant to handle every figure in the aerobatic playbook, the way an Olympic decathlete handles every track-and-field event. Champion was acquired by Bellanca Aircraft Corporation almost immediately after the Decathlon launched, which is why the same aircraft is variously called the Champion Decathlon, Bellanca Decathlon, or American Champion Decathlon.

The Decathlon's claim to fame is its certified +6g/−5g aerobatic envelope paired with the unfussy handling of a strut-braced high-wing taildragger. The Super Decathlon variant (1976) with a 180 hp Lycoming AEIO-360 became the standard aerobatic flight-training platform at countless flight schools — more US aerobatic pilot ratings have probably been earned behind a Decathlon's stick than behind any other aircraft.

The 8KCAB also has an outsize footprint in modern RC: the high-wing strut-braced "aerobatic taildragger" silhouette dominates today's foam and balsa scale-aerobatic kits. The "40" in this model name refers to the .40-cubic-inch glow engine class.

In the simulator

A great step up from a basic trainer into honest aerobatics. Predictable but not over-stable, willing to hold inverted, happy in loops and rolls. Use it to graduate from loop-and-roll into the Cuban eight, stall turn, slow roll, and inverted level pass. A natural sibling of the Bellanca Decathlon 480 (Aerobatic Trainers pack) — same airframe, different scale.