RV-7 vs Citabria/Decathelon
I had a Citabria before building my RV-7 so here are my thoughts.
First let me say I liked the Citabria and had a lot of fun in the plane. Owned it for six years and had 600 hours or so in it. Flew it along the Oregon Trail to the west coast and back from Maryland, plus Oshkosh, Sun 'N Fun & Maine
I've been flying the RV-7 for five and a half years and have about 850 hours or so.
First, I can honestly say the RV is twice as fast as our (old) Citabria was. You may not care about the speed, but that's because you have not experienced it. The speed opens up new worlds. You can get their twice as fast, go twice as far, for the same amount of gas. It took me four days to go coast to coast in the Citabria. I can do it in two in the RV. Comfortably. My wife and I can travel places I couldn't go in the Citabria, because it took too long. I can fly to Maine, Oshkosh or Key West comfortably in a day. Those were long, tiring, all-day (summer) or two-day flights in the Citabria. The speed gives you the ability to go around weather (if that's an option) whereas in the Citabria you would have to stop.
In addition to the speed, the RV has the power. The power to climb over airspace and mountains. I sweated flying over the Rockies in the Citabria; not a worry in the RV. The RV can climb to cruise altitude in a third of the time it took the Citabria.
My wife is much more agreeable to flying with me in the RV-7 because to her it's all about the destination. She wants to get high fast -- smooth air, high speed -- to get to the romantic getaway destination as soon as possible, and wants to sit by my side while doing it, not staring at the back of my head.
So the RV is far superior for travelling and cross-countries.
The RV can do gentlemen's aerobatics, the same as the Citabria. If aerobatics is your primary factor, I still wouldn't go Citabria/Decathelon, which I regard as an aerobatic trainer you will soon get bored with but go straight to Pitts, Extra, One Design, etc.
The RV gets the nod for formation flying, which is something you might want to get into if you went the RV route. It was something I never considered when building but have had a lot of fun with and has resulted in some great experiences (49-ship arrowhead formation over a Kansas City Chiefs game, for example). That brings up the RV community thing. There are over 7000 flying now; they are a few at almost every airport now. And flying is more fun when you are flying with other planes. Although I did have a lot of fun with some other Citabria-drivers in the Mid-Atlantic area.
The RV flies well at slow speed and it's not a problem getting into short grass fields, although not as short of the Citabria, but well enough.
Really the only thing I give the Citabria over the RV is in the low and slow regime. The high wing is clearly superior for sight-seeing down low. You have to constantly be banking your wings to see things in the RV. But that's kind of fun, actually. And you can always slow the RV down -- it turns pretty tight at 90mph!
Surprisingly, I think the RV is a more docile taildragger than the Citabria. You should also be aware of the RV's nimbleness. The Citabria was like a pickup truck; the RV is like a sports car.
As everyone says, the kind of flying you want to do should determine which way you go.
Hope this helps. Regards, Bill
