At 23:51 04 May 2009, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Steve Leonard wrote:
My suggestioin would be stick forward to get the tail in the air.
This
way, you are in control of the airplane. If you leave the tail in the
ground, the airplane will take off when it wants to, leaving you to
react
to what it has just done. I believe your task is to make the airplane
do
what you want it to do, and not to try to catch up with what it just
did.

Steve's method is the commonly used one on a good runway surface (and a

cross wind is not a significant factor), as it's easier to control the
glider; however, keeping the tail on the ground is a standard method for

soft field takeoffs, when you want the main wheel weight reduced as fast

as possible. It may also be useful on a rough field, when you want to
get off the ground as soon as possible. It is the recommended method for

both situations in my ASH 26 E flight manual.

It is very common in flapped gliders to nail the tailwheel to the ground
and you are able to do this because with full negative flap you are not
going to leave the ground or "winch launch" behind the tug. Keeping the
tailwheel on the ground is definitely the thing to do in a crosswind. In
many, if not all flapped gliders with full negative flap the tug may get
airborn but the glider is going by road. However for gliders which do not
have a flaps, or if they do, do not have a negative setting great care is
needed and keeping the tailwheel firmly on the ground for too long can
result in something very scary.