ADELAIDE BIPLANES

1 month ago

The Super Decathlon is back! Here is her story .....

In the autumn of 2004, in the county of West Sussex, UK we were preparing to come back to live in Adelaide, Australia. With part of the sale of our old barn, we decided to invest in an aeroplane capable of aerobatics to bring with us.

The Waco was being readied for shipping from North Carolina, USA and our children Bonnie and Matt, already in Adelaide, were flying the family Piper Super Cub from Parafield, often to Aldinga meeting local legends like Ralph Hood and Gordon Burnard at the Aero Club. They flew the Super Cub together, both holding Australian PPL's at 20 and 17 years old. Martyn said that together they made an 'awesome' pilot!

Mark brought his demonstrator model over to land at the barn, her registration was G-YZMO, (aka Gizmo). Up and away they went and by the time they had come back, Martyn was in love with her! G-YZMO was to become VH-IYA (aka Hi'ya in Australia).

We set off for Australia and the paperwork trails began that were required to get her visa into Australia approved. Mark organised her wings off, jigs made, container ordered and approval documents sorted and in place. She was put onto the high seas bound for Port Adelaide and she finally arrived in April 2005. We drove to the docks to see her sail into port.

The container was brought down to Aldinga Airfield, met by Martyn and Matt and opened after the seal was broken and checked by Quarantine. Welcome to Australia Super Decath after 6 weeks onboard the container ship!

The Super Decathlon has worked for us since then, so during COVID, nearly 20 years on, she was sent away to Harvey in December 2021, our Engineer at Nelson Aeroplane Company, just over the border near Mt Gambier, South Australia for a refurb.

Goodness, I have known Harvey for a lot of years, he married Heather who lived on the farm just up the road from me! We just came around again in a full circle! Without Harvey, we could not do what we manage to do, he is gold as an Engineer!

However, as with many small jobs that were only going to be maybe a few months, well, mmmmm, just the fabric off and a look see, the trouble is that you can really see with her clothes off and it became a very big job extending out to nearly 2 years away .... but now she is back and beautiful once again, ready for the next 20 years, used for teaching tailwheel and aerobatics, such a great little aeroplane just to go flying in!

Martyn continues her story ....

"Well ……. She is back with us! What started as a quick “tizzy up” and a few $$$ finished up close to 2 years and you don’t want to know how many 'just jobs' there were!

It was ever thus of course, bless Harv, our faithful and fastidious Engineer, for producing another of his masterpieces! It never stops amazing us the quality of workmanship that comes out of that little hangar in Nelson.

So IYA our 2004 Super Decathlon is now more Super than ever! There is no part of her that Harvey has not touched, a strip back to bare bones, a comprehensive rebuild, recover, re-paint etc etc leaves her now better that she ever was from the factory.

Getting in her for the first time again after Karl had done the honours of ferrying her back to Aldinga, was like getting to know an old friend again, all those little quirks that you had forgotten come rushing back. From the first start and taxi, all the first impressions of 20 years ago come rushing back, good visibility, sensitive and precise steering and a feeling of 'this is a good aeroplane', before you even get airborne.

Lined up and rolling the 0-360 pulls hard, acceleration is brisk and she wants to fly. Immediately solid in the air, but responsive and agile, she climbs well and we are soon 4000 feet over the ocean just off the coast. It had to happen of course, we could not stay straight and level for long, a few gentle wingovers to warm up and into loops and rolls, all quite good for an old bloke! Now I have been flying in VIW our Great Lakes for all my aeros over the previous 2 years and have got very used to it. The Decath is a fair bit different, a bit less draggy and heavier in pitch, but not worse, just different!! Quiet of course, easy to communicate, WAAAY better for teaching! No need to shout, how good is that!

Progressing on to Hammerheads, Humpty Bumps, all sorts of Rolls , Cubans and some negative G, yeaaah, this is all coming back! She needs more push when inverted and the single hip belts are a good bit less comfortable with more than a couple of G negative ( double belts on the wish list 😊)

Of course I had to spin the old girl, and yep exactly as I remember, entry is crisp and predictable, rotation rate much slower than the biplane and pretty much instant recovery easily within ¼ turn.

Back into the circuit for a few laps, and I was guilty of over controlling in pitch on the first hold off …… daayum she is very responsive! Slightly more delicate touch on the next and much more in the groove. The engine has always required fairly slow throttle advance on the touch and go, and yes that characteristic is still evident, rush it and it will hesitate.

Having been spoilt with the soft oleo gear on the Great Lakes and similar on the Champs, it is very evident that the stiff aluminium gear and the small high pressure tyres are not nearly as flattering!! Good technique wins out though, and she will happily sit both 3 point and wheeler if you get it right.

Welcome back to the Decath, she remains a great little aerobatic aeroplane and will make aerobatic training a much better experience for both student and Instructor." ... See MoreSee Less

ADELAIDE BIPLANES

2 months ago

Justin Monk .... First Solo in the Sport Cub

"From a young age, I always loved aeroplanes. I enjoyed the 'how it works' and I'd read all the technical books that my Uncle had!

About 5 years ago, I joined the Australian Air Force Cadets 601 Squadron at Keswick. I have also added Aviation Studies as a theory component to my subjects at Henley High School.

I started learning to fly in January this year. Going solo? It was a bit surreal, the Cub was so much lighter without my Instructor, it flew into the air quickly, it was not even 5 minutes and I was landing! It was an adrenalin high, way better than learning to drive!!" ... See MoreSee Less