Which taildragger

"...and no asinine heel-brakes.Who was the ergonomically-clueless idiot who
came up with those things, anyway? ;
Jack


I like my heel brakes. I guess it takes a real woman to handle them ;-).

Deb
--
1946 Luscombe 8A (his)
1948 Luscombe 8E (hers)
1954 Cessna 195B, restoring (ours)

"Deborah McFarland" wrote in message
...
"...and no asinine heel-brakes.Who was the ergonomically-clueless idiot
who came up with those things, anyway? ;
Jack


I like my heel brakes. I guess it takes a real woman to handle them ;-).

Deb
--
1946 Luscombe 8A (his)
1948 Luscombe 8E (hers)
1954 Cessna 195B, restoring (ours)

Hi Deb;

I checked out a guy in an Aeronca Chief once. It was a long time ago, but if
I remember right, it didn't have any brakes at all on my side of the
airplane.
You would have LOVED that!!! :-)
I vaguely remember thinking I should be making more money as an instructor
around takeoff time :-))))
Dudley

"Dudley Henriques" dhenriques@noware .net wrote in
nk.net:

...
I vaguely remember thinking I should be making more money as an
instructor around takeoff time :-))))
Dudley

The instructors I know think that all the time :-)

Rob

I vaguely remember thinking I should be making more money as an instructor
around takeoff time :-))))
Dudley


Mine only has brakes on the left side. There is a 337 to install brakes on
the right, but frankly if you need brakes in a Luscombe, things have already
gone too far. I just use mine to show off how I can turn around on a dime on
the tarmac ;-).

Deb
--
1946 Luscombe 8A (his)
1948 Luscombe 8E (hers)
1954 Cessna 195B, restoring (ours)

I don't have near the time as any of you, but in a taildragger I love the
heel brakes. I think it makes breaking a tailwheel loose easier than if you
had to do it pointing your toes out! And with all the footwork I kind of
like the idea the brakes are by themselves and not on the same thing as the
rudder pedals, especially in those high stress moments!
I chose a Champ for my tailwheel training because I did not think I
would like flying from the back seat in a Cub for one. And number 2 was the
visiblity from the Champ from being in the front seat. I figured while you
are learning, seeing may actually be a pretty important thing! And since
I am a sport pilot trainee I chose a plane to fit the category, but I hope
before it's all over with to fly a Stearman and a Decathlon. I agree with
Dudley, the Decath. would be the way to go if your in the PPL situation.
I was thinking about putting the brakes on the right side in my"future"
Luscombe, just so the CFI I have checking me out in doesn't get the "pucker"
factor to much! From my understanding of the 337 it's not to hard of a
project to undertake, still looking for the JATO 337 on it though!

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech

"Deborah McFarland" wrote in message
...
I vaguely remember thinking I should be making more money as an
instructor around takeoff time :-))))
Dudley


Mine only has brakes on the left side. There is a 337 to install brakes on
the right, but frankly if you need brakes in a Luscombe, things have
already gone too far. I just use mine to show off how I can turn around on
a dime on the tarmac ;-).

Deb
--
1946 Luscombe 8A (his)
1948 Luscombe 8E (hers)
1954 Cessna 195B, restoring (ours)

W P Dixon wrote:


I chose a Champ for my tailwheel training because I did not think I
would like flying from the back seat in a Cub for one. And number 2 was
the visiblity from the Champ from being in the front seat. I figured while
you are learning, seeing may actually be a pretty important thing!

Depends, somewhat, on the ultimate objective. I preferred getting my TD
endorsement in the Cub BECAUSE you flew from the back and visibility is
limited. But this is because I intend to work my way up to other Warbirds,
like the Mustang (FUDH) and others, where the visibilty up front isn't so
hot.

But if Big Schnozz flying isn't the objective, then maybe it doesn't
matter.

--
Saville

Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/backstaffhome.html

Restoration of my 82 year old Herreshoff S-Boat sailboat:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/SBOATrestore.htm

Steambending FAQ with photos:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/Steambend.htm

"gregg" wrote

But this is because I intend to work my way up to other Warbirds,
like the Mustang (FUDH) and others, where the visibilty up front isn't so
hot.

Wow, that is ambitious! Do you have connections, or a plan to get the
connections to fly a Mustang, or are you rich? g
--
Jim in NC

Morgans wrote:


"gregg" wrote

But this is because I intend to work my way up to other Warbirds,
like the Mustang (FUDH) and others, where the visibilty up front isn't so
hot.

Wow, that is ambitious! Do you have connections, or a plan to get the
connections to fly a Mustang, or are you rich? g

HAHAHA I have no connections and I'm not "rich" - tho my kid is grown, I
have a good paying job and - most importantly - not married ;^)

So I have money to spend and that's how I'm spending it.

But mostly I have dogged determination, a goal, and a plan.



--
Saville

Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/backstaffhome.html

Restoration of my 82 year old Herreshoff S-Boat sailboat:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/SBOATrestore.htm

Steambending FAQ with photos:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/Steambend.htm

W P Dixon wrote:
I don't have near the time as any of you, but in a taildragger I love
the heel brakes. I think it makes breaking a tailwheel loose easier than
if you had to do it pointing your toes out!

I did some of my tailwheel conversion training in a PA-18. Just one occasion of
needing to use the brakes while holding full rudder against a strong crosswind
made me very appreciative of toe brakes. I was very glad my Maule had them.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

I was thinking about putting the brakes on the right side in my"future"
Luscombe, just so the CFI I have checking me out in doesn't get the
"pucker" factor to much! From my understanding of the 337 it's not to
hard of a project to undertake, still looking for the JATO 337 on it
though!

Patrick,

If I ever give one word of sound advice about flying Luscombes, it's this.
Never, ever as long as you live use those brakes during the landing roll.
Luscombe brakes are for ground maneuvering only. If a CFI tells you
different, open the door and ask him to get out. The last person I told this
to flipped his Luscombe on the landing roll. He let it get away from him,
then added brake to correct himself. The airplane immediately flipped. He
was injured, and the beautifully restored bird was totaled. (see
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...15X01817&key=1)

I've landed in 25 knot crosswinds without touching the brakes. Luscombes are
wonderful airplanes to fly. They react exactly as they are directed. Land
straight with the direction of travel and you'll not have any problem. If
that means landing on one wheel, do so. (I've stayed on one wheel nearly to
the tiedown ;-)) But don't think that braking will help. Go around or add a
blast of power. If all else fails, in a Luscombe, it's better to ground loop
if things have progressed too far than to flip.

BTW, there is a jet Luscombe. It's called the Speedbird. See
http://ronkilber.tripod.com/luscombe/luscombe.htm and all 337s can be found
at http://www.luscombeassoc.org/.

Deb
--
1946 Luscombe 8A (his)
1948 Luscombe 8E (hers)
1954 Cessna 195B, restoring (ours)