Avid flyer

In this respect I know better: two of my instructors are experienced
PPL-taildragger pilots, both making beautiful 3-point landings occasionally.

I just recently went on a flight with our test pilot on an Fk 14
Polaris that had a tailwheel. I got to land the thing and it was no
problem at all, I just barely realized I was in a taildragger. But
this probably differs from one plane to the other.

Oliver

On Oct 7, 10:28 am, Tom De Moor
wrote:

But, Sir, there is no tailwheel endorsement in Belgium...

Nobody who want to teach TD either: I went to France to get the -in my
eyes necessary- training and even there they would no allow TD-flying
when there was more than 5 knots crosswind-component.

No 5 knots cross means that our flying will be restricted to about 15
days a year.

Nobody argues about the 'cool'-factor but insurances have no 'coolness'-
factor: they charge significantly more for a TD than tricycle. Sadly
they do that for a valid reason.

There's no tailwheel endorsement in Canada, either. And we pay no more
for insurance on a taildragger than a trike. The taildragger's dragon-
breath is way overestimated. We train all of our students on the
Citabria, including teenage girls and a few folks who have some
trouble learning. They all get it. And the Citabria (7ECA) is going to
be way more squirrelly than an Avid, with its touchdown speed of over
50 mph. They demonstrate 10 kt crosswind landings and TOs before they
solo. I've done 15-20 kt xwinds in these. They will teach you how to
*actually* fly, something rather handy.

Dan

wrote in message
...
On Oct 7, 10:28 am, Tom De Moor
wrote:

But, Sir, there is no tailwheel endorsement in Belgium...

Nobody who want to teach TD either: I went to France to get the -in my
eyes necessary- training and even there they would no allow TD-flying
when there was more than 5 knots crosswind-component.

No 5 knots cross means that our flying will be restricted to about 15
days a year.

Nobody argues about the 'cool'-factor but insurances have no 'coolness'-
factor: they charge significantly more for a TD than tricycle. Sadly
they do that for a valid reason.

There's no tailwheel endorsement in Canada, either. And we pay no more
for insurance on a taildragger than a trike. The taildragger's dragon-
breath is way overestimated. We train all of our students on the
Citabria, including teenage girls and a few folks who have some
trouble learning. They all get it. And the Citabria (7ECA) is going to
be way more squirrelly than an Avid, with its touchdown speed of over
50 mph. They demonstrate 10 kt crosswind landings and TOs before they
solo. I've done 15-20 kt xwinds in these. They will teach you how to
*actually* fly, something rather handy.

Dan

Just curious, Dan,

Do you accomplish the ab initio training on grass or on pavement?

I have yet to fly a tailwheeler, but I have heard that the grass is much
more forgiving--and that fits with everything I know about physics.

Peter

"Peter Dohm" wrote in message
...
wrote in message

...
On Oct 7, 10:28 am, Tom De Moor
wrote:

But, Sir, there is no tailwheel endorsement in Belgium...

Nobody who want to teach TD either: I went to France to get the -in
my
eyes necessary- training and even there they would no allow
TD-flying
when there was more than 5 knots crosswind-component.

No 5 knots cross means that our flying will be restricted to about
15
days a year.

Nobody argues about the 'cool'-factor but insurances have no
'coolness'-
factor: they charge significantly more for a TD than tricycle.
Sadly
they do that for a valid reason.

There's no tailwheel endorsement in Canada, either. And we pay no
more
for insurance on a taildragger than a trike. The taildragger's
dragon-
breath is way overestimated. We train all of our students on the
Citabria, including teenage girls and a few folks who have some
trouble learning. They all get it. And the Citabria (7ECA) is going
to
be way more squirrelly than an Avid, with its touchdown speed of
over
50 mph. They demonstrate 10 kt crosswind landings and TOs before
they
solo. I've done 15-20 kt xwinds in these. They will teach you how to
*actually* fly, something rather handy.

Dan

Just curious, Dan,

Do you accomplish the ab initio training on grass or on pavement?

I have yet to fly a tailwheeler, but I have heard that the grass is
much
more forgiving--and that fits with everything I know about physics.

Peter

Letting some air out of the tires helps too. At least this is what a
fellow instructor did on his 8A Luscombe.

--
A man is known by the company he keeps- Unknown

Anyolmouse

On Oct 7, 3:56 pm, "Peter Dohm" wrote:

Just curious, Dan,

Do you accomplish the ab initio training on grass or on pavement?

I have yet to fly a tailwheeler, but I have heard that the grass is much
more forgiving--and that fits with everything I know about physics.

Peter

On pavement, and then some on the grass if it isn't deep in snow like
we get here sometimes. The pavement isn't a big deal if you get the
alignment right, and it'll sure tell you if you're off a bit. One
thing you really DO want: a good, experienced instructor who will keep
you out of trouble. I used to spend some time early on just getting
the student to accelerate to a speed short of takeoff, then pull the
throttle back and let him figure out how to keep it straight. Once he
understands the idea that he has to anticipate the swerve and could
keep it straight, then I'd start shoving the rudder pedals around to
make it swerve and get him to fix it. Lotsa fun. ANd he learned soon
that you used ALL the controls, not just the pedals; aileron and
elevator also come into play on the ground, too. Taildraggers are
flown until they're tied down.

Typical first solo in a 172 will come at around 10-15 hours. Then that
student, once licensed, will have to spend maybe 7-10 hours in the
Citabria to get the taildragger solo. The student who starts from
scratch in the Citabria (and we do a few) will solo it in the same
10-15 hours as the trike student did. There is really no magic to it,
no steel-ball guts required, no special intelligence or ability
needed. But *please* don't tell my trike-only buddies that. Might hurt
my macho reputation:-)

Dan

I soloed in the 50's as a 16 year old kid. I was turned loose with a
conventional gear plane with 8 hours and 20 minutes of dual. It can't be too
hard--I managed it. :-)

Going through my old log books I see very few references to wind or gusty
conditions.
So I guess all the todo today about "taildraggers" has to do with
un-learning all the sloppy habits that tricycle landing gear instills.

Sadly I can't afford a Pacer and had to settle for a Tri-Pacer. Insurance
woud have been double and this OF needs all the bucks for the gas tank. :-)

As a result there are many rough strips that I won't venture into.

Cheers:

Paul
N1431A
2AZ1
Indian Hills Airpark, AZ

On Oct 8, 9:39 am, "Tri-Pacer" wrote:

So I guess all the todo today about "taildraggers" has to do with
un-learning all the sloppy habits that tricycle landing gear instills.

Oh, boy, is that ever true. It's become too easy.

Dan

Tri-Pacer wrote:
I soloed in the 50's as a 16 year old kid. I was turned loose with a
conventional gear plane with 8 hours and 20 minutes of dual. It can't be too
hard--I managed it. :-)

Going through my old log books I see very few references to wind or gusty
conditions.
So I guess all the todo today about "taildraggers" has to do with
un-learning all the sloppy habits that tricycle landing gear instills.

Sadly I can't afford a Pacer and had to settle for a Tri-Pacer. Insurance
woud have been double and this OF needs all the bucks for the gas tank. :-)

As a result there are many rough strips that I won't venture into.

Cheers:

Paul
N1431A
2AZ1
Indian Hills Airpark, AZ



Convert the Tri-Pacer to a Pacer. Lots of people have.