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A Citabria is a single engine, high wing, aerobatic airplane. It is often used as a
primary aerobatics trainer because of it's good natured flight characteristics. The
well mannered behavior of the airplane also makes it an often used trainer for pilot's
seeking a tailwheel endorsement or students wanting to learn to fly a taildragger from the
beginning.
The name Citabria is simply Airbatic spelled backwards. It's design is based on the
venerable Aeronca 7AC Champ airframe. The Champ was the primary trainer of many pilot's
following the conclusion of World War II. So it's only natural that a performance plane
based on the original Champ airframe would still be an excellent training vehicle as well.
There are several different models of Citabria aircraft. The main difference in them
are the type of engine used with one notable exception, which has a slightly longer wingspan and
the inclusion of flaps. The model 7KCAB is the "hotrod" of the family. It has a
150 horsepower fuel injected engine with an inverted oil system. This system
allows the airplane to be flown inverted (upside down). The use of fuel injection also
eliminates the inconvenience of engine fuel starvation during inverted and negative G flight
maneuvers. The 7KCAB also has a small auxiliary fuel tank behind the firewall which is
used during inverted flight. It carries enough fuel in the auxiliary tank to maintain
approximately 2 minutes of inverted flight.
For those of you interested in more detailed information about the Citabria 7KCAB, please refer
the the table below.
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