Is tailwheel endorsement really necessary?

[UA-RESURRECTED]

Sure it can't hurt, but these days you could easily start from zero time to 777 captain without ever touching a tailwheeled airplane. So, is it really worth getting? Do you really need it if you're a career-minded pilot?

 

[gear goes down]

Its all up to you. Do you want to fly a tail wheel airplane??? If not, then no. If your going to be a flight instructor and might be teaching in a tail wheel, then you might want it. It all depends. I would say dont get it until you need it (or want it).

 

[mcjohn]

No matter how awesome a pilot thinks their skills are if they try to land a heavy tail dragger in a crosswind or even on a calm day he/she will undoubtedly be humbled. It is a totally different kind of flying that takes practice. People say once you have it it's easy. If you learn on one it should be easy. But if you have a few hundred hours in a C172 and give it a go you're ego will be crushed. Go try it in a 170 or 185 or something. You'll see.

 

[sleddriver71]

Do it if you want to be a better pilot. You will learn what "seat of the pants" really means. I used to fly and instruct in a Cessna 120, that is when I really understood about using the rudders to keep it coordinated. I understood what adverse yaw was too. In that plane, if you tried to bank into a turn without using the rudder it would automatically yaw the wrong way while you banked and you would pretty much continue in an uncoordinated straight line. It was as McJohn put it a "humbling" experience. It was also the most rewarding flying I've ever done. I got my endorsement in a 150hp Super Cub. It was, to me, a lot easier to keep under control on the takeoff roll than the 120 which had 85hp. In the Super Cub if you ever got out of shape on the ground, all you had to do was add full power and you were airborne right now. The 120 was gutless and required you to drive it down the runway for quite some time before it gathered up the speed to liftoff. This, in my opinion, made the 120 a better tailwheel trainer, it just took more skill to stay out of trouble. If you want to do something challenging and really fun and become a far better stick and rudder, go find an "experienced" tailwheel instructor and get the endorsement.

 

[UA-RESURRECTED]

Do it if you want to be a better pilot. You will learn what "seat of the pants" really means. I used to fly and instruct in a Cessna 120, that is when I really understood about using the rudders to keep it coordinated. I understood what adverse yaw was too. In that plane, if you tried to bank into a turn without using the rudder it would automatically yaw the wrong way while you banked and you would pretty much continue in an uncoordinated straight line. It was as McJohn put it a "humbling" experience. It was also the most rewarding flying I've ever done. I got my endorsement in a 150hp Super Cub. It was, to me, a lot easier to keep under control on the takeoff roll than the 120 which had 85hp. In the Super Cub if you ever got out of shape on the ground, all you had to do was add full power and you were airborne right now. The 120 was gutless and required you to drive it down the runway for quite some time before it gathered up the speed to liftoff. This, in my opinion, made the 120 a better tailwheel trainer, it just took more skill to stay out of trouble. If you want to do something challenging and really fun and become a far better stick and rudder, go find an "experienced" tailwheel instructor and get the endorsement.

Great information thanks. I know what you mean. I fly a Cherokee-140, and I will honestly admit, right here on this forum, to not using ANY rudder in turns. The plane is simply so forgiving...coordinated turns all day long without even the slightest rudder input. I use the rudder mostly on takeoff, and taxi of course.

 

[rickair7777]

It's like a helicopter rating...fun but not necessary for the typical fixed wing professional.

If you have limited time and/or money, spend it on something more directly career or family enhancing (instructor rating, ATP written, etc.)

 

[UndauntedFlyer]

If a person learns to fly a tailwheel airplane and particularly if they learn to master wheel landings, that person will be able to land every airplane better, even large airline types of equipment like the B777. By learning wheel landings the pilot develops a peripheral sense of sink rate and height above the runway that applies to all airplanes. Sounds hard to believe but it does work. I know this to be true.

Non tailwheel pilots are now qualified to reply to this thread. Such pilots don't have a clue about what they have missed and don't know.

 

[VNugget]

Completely worthless. Much rather be rolling in plush leather luxury of a G-1000-equipped Cessna Skyhawk 172SP. Aww yeah! Who would want to waste their time in something obsolete like a taildragger? I bet they don't even have GPS.

 

[Waldom]

If your primary flight instructor did his or her job correctly, it will make little difference to the student where the little wheel is located on the aircraft. By this I mean that the instructor required faultless flight control coordination, precise airspeed control, and tolerated absolutely no drift at touch down or anywhere else on the landing or takeoff roll.

While a tricycle landing gear allows you to be a sloppy pilot, your instructor may not have done the same. If this happy circumstance was the case, you don't need a tailwheel endorsement. If you suspect that your instructor was a bit lax or you don't maintain those standards yourself, get another instructor or make it a point to get comfortable in a conventional-gear aircraft.

 

[sleddriver71]

If your primary flight instructor did his or her job correctly, it will make little difference to the student where the little wheel is located on the aircraft. By this I mean that the instructor required faultless flight control coordination, precise airspeed control, and tolerated absolutely no drift at touch down or anywhere else on the landing or takeoff roll.

While a tricycle landing gear allows you to be a sloppy pilot, your instructor may not have done the same. If this happy circumstance was the case, you don't need a tailwheel endorsement. If you suspect that your instructor was a bit lax or you don't maintain those standards yourself, get another instructor or make it a point to get comfortable in a conventional-gear aircraft.

I don't agree at all that it won't make any difference at all just because your instructor did their job correctly. It doesn't matter how perfectly you fly a tricycle gear airplane. Becoming proficient in a tailwheel airplane will enable you to feel things that you never noticed in a tricycle gear airplane. This has nothing to do with being a sloppy pilot in a tricycle or tailwheel airplane. A tailwheel airplane forces you to make positive and immediate corrections. Learning to make these corrections and knowing when to make them will translate to any aircraft. Whether your instructor was top notch or lax, if you are interested in being a better pilot, you will benefit from a tailwheel endorsement.