Technical Tips

These four volumes of Technical Tips published by IAC in 1981 to (about) 1990 contain primarily reprints of Technical Tips articles from Sport Aerobatics.  The "Tech Tips" contain a lot of hard-won knowledge that people sometimes rediscover even today.  Highly recommended reading.

 

Technical Tips Volume 1 (202.2MB), published in 1981, 140 pages.  Articles from Sport Aerobatics 1971 to 1979. Contains many articles about older airplanes, including Pitts S-1S, S-2A, Citabria, Decathlon, Cub and Clipped Cub, Great Lakes.  Articles by Mike Heuer, Frank L. Christensen, Giles Henderson, Sam Burgess, many others, many unattributed.  Tips about rigging, spins, parachutes, smoke, fuel and oil systems, tube and fabric, A.D. and service letters, Lycoming hot starts, inspections, and more.

Technical Tips Volume 2 (260.8MB), published about 1984, 168 pages. Articles from Sport Aerobatics 1980 to 1983.  More about Pitts, Citabria, Decathlon; also, Luscombe, YAK-50, T-Craft, Chipmunk, CAP-21, Acrostar, Christen Eagle, Stephens, Acrostar and others.  Spins, aerodynamics, modes of failure for tube and fabric airplanes.

Technical Tips Volume 3 (305MB), published in 1987, 182 pages. Articles from Sport Aerobatics 1984 to 1986. Spinning with Gene Beggs, Buying a Used Aerobatic Aircraft, Spades, Crashworthy Fittings, Tailwheels, Pitts S2B, Citabria, Decathlon, Laser, Skybolt, Ultimate.

Technical Tips Volume 4 (319.5MB), published about 1990, 192 pages. Articles from Sport Aerobatics 1987, 88. How to Fly series. Articles from Tom Adams, Sam Burgess, Dan Rihn, Gene Beggs, many others, many unattributed.  Laser, Bucher, Starduster Too, Goshawk, Acrocat, AcroSport II, Rebel, Baby Lakes. Halon, fuel, wings, rudder pedals, crankshaft failures, parachutes and bailout, seats, spades, gap seals.

 

2023 In the Loop - spin series

    A collection of articles from the tech tips manuals that focus specifically on spins and spin recovery: https://www.iac.org/in-the-loop-spin-recovery-series
 

An index of the Technical Tip articles that refer to the Decathlon

     Refer to this index to locate Decathlon tech tips in the above Technical Tips volumes and various articles from Sport Aerobatics magazine.