"C J Campbell" wrote in
:


"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
om...
"C J Campbell" wrote in
message
...
There is absolutely
no reason to learn to fly a tailwheel aircraft unless you plan on
owning
one
or have some other special need, such as bush piloting or you are a
CFI
who
wants to instruct in them.

My tailwheel background certainly makes me a much better Mooney
pilot. It certainly makes me a better CFI. I'm able to let students
take the 172 further towards the weeds with confidence that I can
control it. Non-tailwheel CFIs have to jump in there right away and
the students takes 3 times longer to learn foot work.

It is not your tailwheel background that lets you do that. It is your
experience, pure and simple.

It is awfully hard for a student to run off into the weeds on a 150'
wide runway. I just let them go where they want. They learn pretty
quick.



I tend to agree with CJ on this. I am a tailwheel instructor now, but I
was not always one. Because I kept hearing comments like 'you are not a
real pilot until you have flown a tailwheel', I took the challenge to
transition to a 1946 Luscomb 8A. I did not find anything particularly
difficult about it, probably because I was already using the correct
techniques in the tricycle gear airplanes. The limited view over the nose
was the most difficult thing I had to get over. We even landed in 15 knot
cross winds.