BELLANCA CITABRIA

The Citabria was North America’s first aircraft certified for aerobatic flight by the FAA and is still the lowest priced production aircraft with these capabilities. Production of the Citabria was discontinued in 1980 when Bellanca Aircraft Corp. declared bankruptcy.

The Citabria is a light single-engine, two-seat, fixed conventional gear airplane which entered production in the United States in 1964. Designed for flight training, utility and personal use, it is capable of sustaining aerobatic stresses from +5g to -2g. Its name spelled backwards, "airbatic", reflects this.

The Citabria traces its lineage back to the Champ. The most noticeable external changes to the design are the Citabria's squared-off rudder surface, wingtips, and rear windows. The strut-braced wings of the Citabria are, like the fuselage and tail surfaces, fabric covered, utilizing aluminum ribs. Most Citabrias were built with wooden spars. American Champion has been using aluminum spars in the aircraft it has produced and has, as well, made the aluminum-spar wings available for retrofit installation on older aircraft.