American Champion Decathlon

Picking up on that combination of visibility and capability, how does the Grob actually compare to something like an Extra 300 or a Pitts?

Those tandem aircraft, the Extra 300, the Super Decathlon, the Pitts, offer higher roll rates and larger maneuvering envelopes.

The Extra 300L in particular gets used in some upset training programs because it's easier to control at high maneuverability, which some people treat as the most important factor in upset recovery.

So they're excellent airplanes.

The pilots involved in these crashes were either discovered later, confirmed to have passed away, or disappeared without a trace.

Steve Fossett, a well-known explorer and aviator, took off in a Super Decathlon from a small Nevada airstrip on November 3rd, 2007, but seemingly disappeared without a trace.

Despite extensive search and rescue operations that lasted for weeks and cost approximately $700,000, Fossett was not found until more than a year later.

A hiker stumbled upon his scattered ID cards along a trail.

There was certainly no disputing his impressive experience.

On September 3, 2007, Fawcett departed from the Flying M Ranch in Nevada in a single-engine Super Decathlon light aircraft for what was to be a quick round-trip joy flight, with a planned return to the same airport from which he had departed shortly after.

At the time, no one thought anything of it.

After all, this was one of the most decorated and well-respected aviators in the world on a routine flight under clear conditions.

You can start in a Cessna 152 Aerobat.

You can start in a Super Decathlon.

The pits and the extra and the edge are for later.

The commitment to actually doing it is the part that matters.

The pilots involved in these crashes were either discovered later, confirmed to have passed away, or disappeared without a trace.

Steve Fawcett, a well-known explorer and aviator, took off in a Super Decathlon from a small Nevada airstrip on November 3, 2007, but seemingly disappeared without a trace.

Despite extensive search and rescue operations that lasted for weeks and cost approximately $700,000, Fawcett was not found until more than a year later.

A hiker stumbled upon his scattered ID cards along a trail.

For training, the IAC maintains a list of aerobatic instructors and schools at IAC.org. You don't need to start in an unlimited aircraft.

A Cessna 150 Aerobat, a Super Decathlon, or a Citabria will take you through the primary categories and the foundational skills.

Most instructors start students in two-seat aircraft and work through loops, rolls, and spins before any sequence work begins.

The endorsement process is straightforward, the cost is in line with other specialized flight training, and the skills transfer broadly.

There is a photograph making the rounds on AveWeb today.

A super decathlon, nose pitched up hard, wing carving through the summer air above Oshkosh, blue sky behind it.

The crowd lines somewhere below, and for a moment looking at that image, you remember exactly why you started flying in the first place.

I'm Tower.

From first solo to airline transport pilot, every coin tells a story.

AviationSoul.com, that photo is AVWeb's picture of the day for September 1st, 2026.

A super decathlon doing what a super decathlon was born to do, maneuvering at AirVenture in front of the biggest aviation crowd on the planet.

And it got me thinking about that airplane, what it represents, and what aerobatics means for pilots at every level of experience.