1977 Super Decathlon 8KCAB Rebuild

firewall forward, paint, interior, wings, 1st annual and test flights. it snowballed a little from the original plan but that's about it.

made it from NJ to Kenosha, WI today and will be at the factory by 7 when they open tomorrow. it's hard to believe the drop-off day has finally come!

😥😥😥
 
Hiperbiper said:
I assume the Pitts is moving to the front burner?
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Funny you mention that, I had the drawings out and am going to get back to completing the wing and aileron ribs. For metal parts I need to get better at tig welding so not sure yet how to go about doing that. I need to clear my head and get some stuff done at home before making any decisions.
 
Paint scheme proof is done! :) I forget which airshow performer did this scheme originally but it's the same except N777DW will be blue-red-blue with the starburst instead of the original red-blue-red and then red/white invasion stripes.

Screen Shot 2023-05-25 at 14.20.15.webpScreen Shot 2023-05-25 at 14.20.28.webp
 
Looks good. I like the N-number. I captured one triple four whiskey, and may use it some day.
 
The plane originally had its first flight on 7-Jul-1977 (7/7/77) so that explains the 777. Don Wedgle was the original owner so that's the DW. I left it as is to build some good karma into the operation as it was originally crashed less than a year after it was built while testing radios that had just been installed. It's a 1977 and we used 35 hours as the estimated total time!
 
Bartman said:
The plane originally had its first flight on 7-Jul-1977 (7/7/77) so that explains the 777. Don Wedgle was the original owner so that's the DW. I left it as is to build some good karma into the operation as it was originally crashed less than a year after it was built while testing radios that had just been installed. It's a 1977 and we used 35 hours as the estimated total time!
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Beautiful plane
 
Your airplane looks great. I like the paint scheme. Happy flying!wing.webp
It really makes me want to get mine finished. I hope this fall. I am at the 75% done and 60% left to go stage, as they say!
I stayed with the 150CS and the wood wings which were in great shape.IMG_4733.webpIMG_4735.webp
 

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very nice work! the plan originally was to go 150hp with a fixed pitch prop but then wood spars weren't available during covid and it just got out of control from there once the decision was made to buy new wings.
 
Thank-You.
I guess not everything has to make financial sense. Your airplane will have the features that people will be looking for if you want to sell it sometime.
I hope to break even (not figuring much for labor). I want to enjoy the airplane when I complete it! Life is short after all!
 
Again, I think the 160 C/S would be the best Decathlon for most of us. I own a 180 in really good shape, and would probably trade even for a legal 160.

That is of course not true for competition aero or air show work, but most of us do neither.
 
I guess that I will have to not plan on flying off the top of vertical rolls like your 180 hp is capable of! I started with the communication to make my engine 160HP. The helpful Hartzell rep said that there is no vibration analysis for 160 HP on my AEIO-320E1B with my prop. He said that I would go through a lot of work and that the FAA would deny the change.
 
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