Super Decathlon

Published by Dennis Muli on Wed, Sep 28, 2016

Cole Dillon

It is an airplane you will only fly 3-4 times during your flying career at WMU, but it will be the best 3-4 flights of your life. I felt very nervous before my first flight in the aircraft. I wasn’t sure if I would love the experience or vomit all over my instructor. I knew the maneuvers I would soon complete would be more aggressive than any I’ve ever done. It was all a mystery, but I was secretly excited for my first aerobatic flight.

 Flying the American Champion Super Decathlon is a break from the normal routine of flying the Cirrus or the Seminole. The flights are a chance to try something new and have loads of fun, all the while learning very important skills that could save your life and the lives of hundreds of passengers.

I did not come to Western Michigan University with any aerobatic experience. The time I’ve spent “inverted” has been limited to the flight simulators at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo and just split seconds on roller coasters. The Decathlon is much like a roller coaster, only you tell it what to do. I am lucky enough to have the program manager and assistant chief flight instructor Tom McLaughlin as my instructor for this short course. Mr. McLaughlin makes the entire experience not only very entertaining, but also very safe and engaging.

The College of Aviation doesn’t just use the aircraft for entertainment, however. The outrageous attitudes experienced in the airplane could happen in any aircraft (although you don’t see a Boeing 747 in a spin every day) and it is up to the pilot to recover from any dangerous attitude. Although the training received in the Super D is ridiculously fun, it is extremely important and students of the College of Aviation at Western Michigan University are lucky to have such training in such an extraordinary aircraft.