Staring Tailwheel Endorsement

Plano Pilot said:
Yea I so not remember using them much even in the 70's with a 2200 foot strip. When I was instructing in the Cubs we had 1200x14 or so of paved with 500 of grass on each end and allot of grass on the sides. When the students could consistently keep the Cub on the pavement they were ready for solo.
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1200 feet is enough for a stop and go if you use the brakes.
 
Hey everyone! I had my first lesson yesterday. We ended up flying the Citabria, which I was happy about. For the first lesson, we just focused on airwork, since the airplane was new to me. We did power on/off stalls, steep turns, ground reference maneuvers, and worked a lot on staying coordinated (I need at lot of work on this). I can tell this plan will be a blast to fly. It is super nimble and responsive compared to the 172 I'm used to flying.

The whole lesson reminded me of my first lesson, and how nervous I was the first time I went up flying. Everything related to take off, landing and taxi was new and different. While taxing to the runnup area, I asked my instructor if we were going to fast, and he said, "no, this is on the slow side". I couldn't help but laugh as I was sure we were going WAY to fast.

I've had multiple people tell me that the takeoff roll would catch me off guard when the tailwheel popped up, and everyone was right. I felt like we were about to smash the nose into the ground.

We only did one landing. The Citabria only has instruments for the front seat, where I was sitting. Plus I am 6'1" and my instructor is probably about 5'7". I controlled the throttle and pitch on a three mile straight in final. We ended up tagging the runway pretty hard. But we were right in the three point attitude when it happened. The winds were very light and we kept the airplane straight (which is a lot easier in a tandem configuration as there is no parallax to deal with).

Anyway, it was a lot of fun! I'm super excited for the next lesson in one week!
 
Keep at it. A couple of things that helped me: Bounces are caused by the plane touching down on the main wheels with downward momentum and enough airspeed to climb if the angle of attack is increased. The CG is behind the main wheels so the downward momentum causes an increase in angle of attack (opposite of what happens in a tricycle-gear plane and same root cause as the propensity for taildraggers to ground loop). Bounces are therefore avoided by (a) minimizing downward momentum at touchdown and/or (b) touching down with the angle of attack high enough and the airspeed low enough that an increase in angle of attack can't happen due to the tailwheel touching down at the same time as the mains or won't result in a climb off of the runway due to the plane stalling.

Wheel landings are all (a). You flare so that you level off with the mains just kissing the ground (just a little peck, a smooch, like you're kissin' your sister) and then decrease the angle of attack by bringing the stick forward at exactly that moment, not before (which results in slamming it onto the ground and breaking the landing gear) or after (which is better but can result in a bounce if you didn't quite nail the landing). Three-points are (b). You continue flaring with the wheels an inch off the ground until the plane stalls. And conceptually it helps to tell yourself that you want to land the tailwheel first, before the mains. A good pilot can decide which type of landing to do while in the flare. A good pilot masters both types of landings, because each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Disclaimer: By my own definition above, I'm not a good pilot yet. I only have 32 hours and 108 landings in the J-3. I still prefer wheel landings because I come in too hot on final. "Too hot" in the J-3 is anything over 45mph when solo. The days are finally getting longer again so I am hopeful I'll be able to go out one day and do 100 three-point landings and try to improve a bit. The taildragger is a challenging but rewarding beast to tame.
 
iamtheari said:
Disclaimer: By my own definition above, I'm not a good pilot yet. I only have 32 hours and 108 landings in the J-3..
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Don't belittle yourself, your probably a better pilot than half the people reading this.
 
In my Citabrias, I found the landings with the least drama had the tailwheel rolling on slightly first, with the mains then dropping about 6" with a little "thump". That worked so well I'd recommend that the student aim for that, feeling for the ground with the tailwheel. Worked in both my 7ECA (no flaps) and 7GCBC (flaps). Touching down with all three simultaneously always seemed a bit more "skittery" with some residual lift in the wings.

Another thing to look out for: I'd have students make great landings, but then relax and let the stick go forward. Then things got interesting - tail down the tailwheel steers, tail up the rudder steers, in between there be dragons. Keeping the stick all the way back can seem hard to do, and sometimes it helped to have the student reach over with their left hand to "help".
 
FastEddieB said:
Another thing to look out for: I'd have students make great landings, but then relax and let the stick go forward. Then things got interesting - tail down the tailwheel steers, tail up the rudder steers, in between there be dragons. Keeping the stick all the way back can seem hard to do, and sometimes it helped to have the student reach over with their left hand to "help".
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This can't be said enough times. Your CFI should say it but you should also read it at least 3 times in books and 30 times online. When taxiing, the stick is always held full back unless there is a strong tailwind.
 
FastEddieB said:
Another thing to look out for: I'd have students make great landings, but then relax and let the stick go forward. Then things got interesting - tail down the tailwheel steers, tail up the rudder steers, in between there be dragons. Keeping the stick all the way back can seem hard to do, and sometimes it helped to have the student reach over with their left hand to "help".
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Once that stick is back, keep it there as FastEddie says. I had 3 students that bought a Cub together to get their PPC and 2 of the 3 got it, the other one, well, he was interesting let's put it that way. They all passed their rides though.
 
Lowflynjack said:
I have a 1946 140 with the original gear, and no extenders. According to some, it should have been balled up years ago! Some instructors complained on the first year model, 1946, and Cessna helped make the rumor worse by making an optional wheel extender. This was a flat piece of metal that extends the axle forward I believe 3 inches. In my opinion, the extender is a waste of metal and should be removed from any plane that has them. I've flown 140s with and without them, and the ones with have a lot of unnecessary weight on the tail. This is a hot issue on the 120/140 forum and always will be. Some people like training wheels! In 1947 Cessna swept the gear forward, so you should NEVER see extenders on any plane other than a 1946. If so, it's not legal and will cause real issues with the plane.

I can tell you I don't use brakes often, but when I do I'm gentle, and make sure the yoke is back in my gut. This is true of all tailwheel planes though, so nothing unusual. Only once did I make the tail come up when braking and that was on purpose to see how easy it was to do. It wasn't that hard, but it wouldn't ever happen by surprise.
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I have been to two Cessna 120-140 club national events and I can testify that Jack is more than correct when he says that the extenders are controversial. By chance I ended up with a 48 model and have never flown an early version. From what I am told by people that know what they are talking about, Jack being one of them, I think that the early versions are just fine without the extenders.

I use brakes sometimes to turn off at midfield if necessary, and have used differential braking a few times when I was in trouble, but that is a last resort during the threat of a ground loop.
 
I'm really thinking about doing my Tailwheel rating at Chandler Air Service after doing my aerobatics/spin recovery course...they are fantastic over there.
 
Well, I went in for lesson two today. We had a short ground discussion about three point landings, then headed out to the airplane. There had been some concern about the weather, which is odd for the Phoenix area, but it looked like it would hold until about 11:00, and we were going to get off the ground by 9:00. The plan was for full stop taxi backs.

We did the preflight, climbed in the airplane (which is no easy chore - I am 6'1" and don't exactly 'fit' in the Citabria very well). Got the engine started, started going through the checklist, dialed up the ATIS:

"... winds 090 @ 15 Gusting 21..."

We checked with ground to verify the winds, shut the engine down and got out of the airplane. In the five minutes between starting the engine and shutting it off, the winds went from calm, The ATIS rolled over and the winds went from calm to 090 @ 15 Gusting 21. Not exactly the best conditions for a brand new tailwheel student.

We ended up swapping some crazy crosswind stories and headed inside. It was the right call to make. I'll come back and report after we get the next lesson done.
 
Yep, better to be down here wishing than up there praying. I know of a Stinson 108-1 that might be restored. A local A&P bought it and is slowly working on it but is probably 2 years away from it flying again if I had to guess. I would love to get my TW endorsement in it if it flies again.
 
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