Conventional vs. Tricycle

OK, having flown both high wing and low wing aircraft...

I don't really care. Both get me in the air and that is the key requirement. The club used to have an Arrow and that is what my low wing time is in. 70+ hours total in it before we sold it. Now all we have are high wing planes (C-172 and C-182). If we got another low wing plane, I'd fly it too. My complaint with the Arrow had nothing to do with high vs low wing. No tailwheel time, so I'll stay out of that discussion.

I have the instrument rating and I think that training made a better pilot out of me. VFR you can settle for whatever altitude you want (within limits). Those limits are much tighter when flying on an instrument plan. In some ways, IFR is easier than VFR, in other ways it is more difficult. Your choice.
 
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Albany Tom said:
To me it's similar to riding a motorcycle or being a pilot making a person a better driver. I believe it does, you learn to look at things differently and become more perceptive of risk.
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Glad you brought that up as I see it that way too. Today I took a little road trip on the bike and confirmed what I've always known ... riding a bike makes the driver in me better at scanning for traffic, keeping myself from getting boxed in, always having an out, carefully observing road surface conditions, and overall situational awareness.

I feel the same about tail wheel flying. It makes me pay more attention to energy management, runway alignment, wind direction, etc. I'm not better than anybody else but tail wheel helps me be better at what I want to achieve. I'm not in competition with anyone but me.

I have a few friends that are pilots. They fly two stroke, four stroke, tail wheel, nose roller, high wing, low wing, tractor, pusher, powered, glider, stick, yoke, yada, yada, yada. I don't care what you fly ... come on and let's go. :D

Who was it that said, "don't practice until you get it right, practice until you don't get it wrong!"
 
Daleandee said:
I have a few friends that are pilots. They fly two stroke, four stroke, tail wheel, nose roller, high wing, low wing, tractor, pusher, powered, glider, stick, yoke, yada, yada, yada. I don't care what you fly ... come on and let's go. :D
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You forgot manymotors, turbines, and floatplanes and amphibians. Try floatplane training and find that you also have to learn to sail. That airplane has a mind of its own on the water, especially in any breeze, and the brakes are no help at all.
 
Dan Thomas said:
So why does that happen? Didn't Piper and Cessna tell us that tricycle gear wants to go straight? Do some pilots take that to mean that it doesn't need any input from the pilot? Pretty bad when you're the only person in the airplane and you're a passenger.

Definitely some defective instruction there.
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Looks to me that he was so concerned with the PIO he was creating that he forgot to maintain heading. He had the yoke turned when he touched down, and kind of dropped it in, like he wanted the landing to be over, and like you said, became a passenger.

He's unhurt, can't say the same for the airplane.
 
FormerHangie said:
Looks to me that he was so concerned with the PIO he was creating that he forgot to maintain heading. He had the yoke turned when he touched down, and kind of dropped it in, like he wanted the landing to be over, and like you said, became a passenger.

He's unhurt, can't say the same for the airplane.
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The PIO was repeated balloonings, caused by way too much speed. What is it that people don't get about AoA and airspeed anyway?
 
Really reminiscent regarding the rise of steam-driven boats. For quite a while, it was believed that the master of a steamship also had to be a qualified master of a sailing ship. Eventually, they instituted separate master's ratings for steam and sail.

Also the era where "Wooden ships and iron men" comes from.

We're like to see a similar process if those who are developing "flying cars" gain any success. You'll end up with a pilot's license that authorizes you to operate an autonomous air vehicle, and nothing else.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Dan Thomas said:
What is it that people don't get about AoA and airspeed anyway?
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Many years ago when we were training folks in ultralight trainers one instructor had a fella in the plane doing touch and goes. He finally landed and we were talking when he said, "I don't know why that thing wants to float so much down the runway." I asked if he had thought about slowing the thing down. He looked at me strange and I said, "If it's still flying it's because it has flying speed."

They went out and did some slower approaches and shazam! ... much better landings. It did bother me that the "instructor" didn't see the problem from the back seat.
 
wanttaja said:
You'll end up with a pilot's license that authorizes you to operate an autonomous air vehicle, and nothing else.
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That might be the best option for some of the people I've flown with ;)

Nauga,
gritting his teeth
 
Use the best tool for the job. My mission/locale favors tail draggers. If I was a pavement to pavement pilot I’d want a nose dragger.
 
Does having a check airman along for every ride make a better pilot? Does everyone enjoy having a check airman aboard on every flight looking over your shoulder? Some pilots relish displaying their aeronautical expertise and would say yes and being forced to be on top of their game for each and every flight a challenge they relish. Piloting a tailwheel aircraft is like having an invisible check airman aboard grading every takeoff and landing. I sometimes just like to fly for the fun of it and not have to have ground looping as a constant threat for even slightly less than perfect crosswind landing technique or a momentary lapse of concentration. I have a tailwheel endorsement but realize there is a reason why insurance premiums are higher for having a wheel on the tail as opposed to on the nose. I suppose if I had lots of extra cash, a tailwheel aircraft could be a lot of fun, but I don't have lots of extra cash. I've seen very experienced tailwheel pilots ground loop and they all would admit it was pilot error. The invisible check airman strikes at a time and place of his own choosing and flying tailwheel increases his choices. YMMV
 
Witmo said:
I've seen very experienced tailwheel pilots ground loop and they all would admit it was pilot error. The invisible check airman strikes at a time and place of his own choosing and flying tailwheel increases his choices. YMMV
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The Dirty Dozen human factors includes Complacency, and that's what gets the seasoned Taildragger pilot. It's not the lack of skill; it's the inattention to that airplane every moment it's in contact with the ground.
 
A Lee Marvin film, with Charles Bronson and a bunch of others, if I remember correctly?
I think one of the main takeaways from that movie was to be very cautious in urban tank battles.
 
Albany Tom said:
A Lee Marvin film, with Charles Bronson and a bunch of others, if I remember correctly?
I think one of the main takeaways from that movie was to be very cautious in urban tank battles.
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I think you're mixing "The Dirty Dozen" (Marvin, Bronson, Savalas) with "Kelly's Heroes" (Eastwood, Sutherland, Savalas).

Ron "It's a Mark 6. And we got it right up the ***" Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
I think you're mixing "The Dirty Dozen" (Marvin, Bronson, Savalas) with "Kelly's Heroes" (Eastwood, Sutherland, Savalas).

Ron "It's a Mark 6. And we got it right up the ***" Wanttaja
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I did! Good catch. And I think I liked Kelly's Heroes better.
 
wanttaja said:
I think you're mixing "The Dirty Dozen" (Marvin, Bronson, Savalas) with "Kelly's Heroes" (Eastwood, Sutherland, Savalas).

Ron "It's a Mark 6. And we got it right up the ***" Wanttaja
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Stewartb said:
Use the best tool for the job. My mission/locale favors tail draggers. If I was a pavement to pavement pilot I’d want a nose dragger.
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Just wondering if you put the Cub on skis in the winter to get to your cabin?
 
AKBill said:
Just wondering if you put the Cub on skis in the winter to get to your cabin?
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For whatever reason, skis are the only thing for my Maule that I actually felt the need to justify. And I don’t ice fish, so… :(
 
I think if I were going to watch an old Lee Marvin film it would be the Magnificent Seven. Not my favorite western, but it had a couple of good scenes.
 
Dan Thomas said:
Durand V
View attachment 102906

Aerosport Scamp
View attachment 102907

Both homebuilts, for the lovers of the antique look but are afraid of the tailwheel.
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I did air-to-air shots of the Durand V, actually the same one you posted here, for EAA at Oshkosh. The photo pilot and I didn't know what a Durand, so as he was forming up on us, the photo pilot asked me what it was. I laughed. I said, it's a side-by-side, staggerwing biplane, with an enclosed cabin, tricycle gear, and a swept tail. I don't think he believed me!
 
Lowflynjack said:
I did air-to-air shots of the Durand V, actually the same one you posted here, for EAA at Oshkosh. The photo pilot and I didn't know what a Durand, so as he was forming up on us, the photo pilot asked me what it was. I laughed. I said, it's a side-by-side, staggerwing biplane, with an enclosed cabin, tricycle gear, and a swept tail. I don't think he believed me!
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Yeah, it sticks out like a sore thumb. I first saw it at Arlington about 40 years ago. It didn't catch on: it was just too different. Like a Studebaker. We all say we want something unique, then we walk right past the unique stuff.

Or maybe being unique involves something more than a collection of styles from other airplanes....
 
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