Flying has always been a part of life for Jayson Chappell and his father, Chip. So when the time came to look for an aircraft the entire family could fly and enjoy, they leapt at the chance to bring home and restore a 1975 Bellanca Super Decathlon. As it turns out, the airplane had a remarkable backstory: it was serial number 219-76, the very first Bellanca \u201cSuper\u201d Decathlon certified by the FAA.<\/p>\n
Taking on the restoration project wouldn\u2019t be easy, especially since the airplane was mostly disassembled and hadn\u2019t been airborne in over 23 years. But Jayson and Chip were determined to put in the effort to restore the Super Decathlon to flying condition. Finally, after more than two years of restoration work, the airplane returned to the skies in July 2019.<\/p>\n
We recently sat down with Jayson and Chip to talk about the story behind the airplane and their impressive restoration project.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\t\t