Refurb of the Month: John Myers’ Citabria

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • John Myers successfully refurbished his Citabria taildragger over two seasons, transforming it with new covering and a high-gloss finish.
  • The project was completed in a home garage-hangar with professional assistance, utilizing readily available parts, STCs, and manufacturer upgrades.
  • The beautifully restored aircraft is now an active flyer, primarily used to provide EAA Young Eagles flights through a local chapter in Sequim, WA.
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The Citabria is a nice, modern taildragger and one for which parts are readily available, so it’s a perfect refurb project. John Myers of Sequim, Washington, sent us this report on his project:


This was a project completed at an airpark home, in a garage-hangar.I had thehelp from a youngA&P and neighbor A/I for inspections.We included some STCs, factory upgrades, kits and parts from ACA, the current manufacturer.

It took two seasons to complete the refurbishment. We did the wings and tail surfaces duringthe winter of 2011-2012 then reassembled and flew it Summer 2012. Next cycle of refurb was the following year for the fuselage. Everything sparkles now with new Polyfiberdacron coverand Randthane high-gloss finish.

This Citabria is an active flyer of EAA Young Eagles through our local EAA Chapter 430 in Sequim, WA.Here is the YouTube video of a particular Young Eagle who was very excited about the ride.

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