birdog wrote:

I learned in a J-3 on a grass strip. I got a single sentence instruction for
my first hard surface landing. That was to be sure to track the runway in a
crosswind. You can be a little sloppy on grass, but not on asphalt,
especially in a taildragger.

Never gave it any thought before, but taildragger pilots are always going to
touch down nose high and slowed to near stall in any craft, on grass or
asphalt. If there are any taildragger pilots around now days, watch 'em
landing tri-'s sometime.

Sounds like some of you guys are talking about landing in a cow pasture.
Most dirt fields I've flown into had a distinct path marking the strip used
as the runway. No way would I ever intentionally, i. e. on purpose, set one
down in a uniform field of grass about which I was unfamiliar.

There is distinct advantages in becoming proficient in a taildragger and one
that is not spin-proof. I guess all of this dates me.

It dates you, but it also suggests that you had good primary
instruction. I didn't learn in a tail dragger, but I learned from an
old instructor who has about 50,000 hours, a good share of that
instructing. It appears the more that I read here that newer
instructors aren't teaching folks how to really fly under a wide range
of conditions. The thought of needing a CFI to go from asphalt to grass
just strikes me as so hilarious.

Matt