Tail draggin' ain't easy!

[mcjohn]

If you're going off the runway, brakes are always an option. Not all airplanes have steerable tailwheels...in some cases, without brakes, you have no ground steering.

Dragging a brake slightly on one side is also an option. If you're slow and throw in a lot of power, it may hurt you a lot more than help you.

Generally brakes are best avoided as a principle of airmanship...but in some cases, they're necessary, and in all cases, they're nothing more than a tool for your use in operating the aircraft, to be used as required.

Bent the throttle? Are you sure your instructor was leaving due to work?

Oh yeah, we definitely had left break after it swung a few degrees. And yes he is leaving for work (not making me feel any better are you!) I knew that before we even started. We knew we only had 2 days to knock it out. That's why we were flying in the bad x winds and not taking our time. The friction lock was so touchy on the throttle. You turn/bump it a millimeter or two and it would lock tight. I always like to have my palm around the knob of the throttle and my finger tips come in contact with the lock. I take responsibility for locking it and not realizing it. Instructor knocked my hand away and bent throttle himself. We were really close to ground looping so instructor was being thrown to the left out of his seat with his hand on it and I think that bent it it. However, it's still my fault.

 

[avbug]

Fault is a blame game they play in the People's Republik of Kalifornia. It's a stupid game.

Trying to guess at who might be at fault is childish and wasteful; more important is what is learned.

A lesson here might be earlier application of control input, but more importantly, never rely on your engine in flight or on the ground. Always plan accordingly, especially in this kind of flying. You're probably accustomed to being told to plan for an engine failure in flight (never a matter of if, but when)...but plan for it in every phase of your aircraft operation. On takeoff, on the ground, on landing, on rollout, and during a go-around or missed approach. It may happen because the engine fails, or for another reason (as you've discovered).

If the wind is strong enough, especially when doing primary training for that conventional gear signoff, do your takeoffs and landings into the wind. Get the basic feel for the aircraft first, and then move on to crosswinds. Otherwise you'll be like the cows in Wyoming when the wind quits; they all fall over. Too used to the breeze.

 

[mcjohn]

Very much agreed. Don't want to fault anyone. Doesn't matter. Just trying to be humble. And yes we talked about how we were skipping the building block principle and we both came to regret it.

 

[Cat Driver]

yeh Wang Chung, I'm trying to sell a few toys that I have had for some years and I am about half finished with building a Cub Clone that I am putting on amphib floats.

My first job in aviation was crop dusting with a J3 Cub, so it seems fitting I end my career with a Cub.

Cat D.

 

[Propnose]

I flew a C-170 today working on my tailwheel endorsement. I knew they were touchy but I had no idea it would be so freakin' squirrly! I flew for 3.5 hours and just started getting the hang of x-wind (real x wind today) wheel landings on a 40' wide strip. That stuffs dangerous!!! It's the 1st time I've sat in the left seat in almost a year and really the first flying I've done in months (other than sitting in the right seat with folded arms CFIing) The instructor said I did well and that I may be able to get signed off tommorow.
GO ME!!
If any of you folks have the opportunity to try tail wheel flying - Take it. I'd say it was the most humbleing experience I've had so far in aviation. I can't believe it was so common back in the old days.
I'm going to bed early tonight. I flew for 3.5 hours in that mess on 4 hours of sleep!

"There is no such thing as a squirrly airplane - only squirrly pilots" --Curtis Pitts

 

[mcjohn]

"There is no such thing as a squirrly airplane - only squirrly pilots" --Curtis Pitts

Fine then. Squirrly winds, taking a squirrly pilot, and making an airplane look squirrly!:nuts:

 

[FlyingSkip]

Hey Nose---How did I know that another former rag dragger would emerge from hiding when the topic of tailwheel showed it's head?! How's the jet world treating you these days, ML? Doesn't this thread take you back---20-30 kt xwinds on those blustery beach afternoons?! I miss it---nah, not really!!! Kinda like a wisdom tooth you remember fondly...!

I start training banner guys in about a month so I'll be getting my share soon enough---wanna jump out of that Jerman Jet and come down to MB for the summer and take a real man's job?!

 

[Traumahawk]

KEEP THE STICK BACK




That'll be $5

 

[sandman2122]

NEVER stop moving the rudder pedals!

That'll be $10

 

[Cat Driver]

" KEEP THE STICK BACK




That'll be $5 "

And by doing that you will not learn to wheel land land and you will not be a tail wheel pilot.

That will be free advice!!

 

[Traumahawk]

" KEEP THE STICK BACK




That'll be $5 "

And by doing that you will not learn to wheel land land and you will not be a tail wheel pilot.

That will be free advice!!

I think you know what I meant, and if you don't, I hope you don't have a high deductible.

 

[Lead Sled]

Sure, but I hear the DC3s are being replaced by those new-fangled Convairs, and eventually you might work your way into the DC-6. BUT the real excitement is the dawn of the Jet Age. Imagine yourself flying the Boeing 707 someday!

You and Captain Travolta.

 

[aucfi]

A cub on the other hand is like the best woman, best steak, best whiskey, best sense of well being a pilot can experence, at least to me anyway.

Me too buddy!

 

[Cat Driver]

" I think you know what I meant, and if you don't, I hope you don't have a high deductible. "

O.K. I was just making a tounge in cheek comment.

But now I fail to understand what keeping the stick back has to do with a high deductable?

There are only a few instances when you have to keep the stick back.

So what exactly is it that I am missing?

 

[avbug]

More than that, keeping that stick back at the wrong time can hurt you, too. What about aircraft that lock the tailwheel by holding aft stick? As Catdriver noted...what about wheel landings? Some aircraf trequire the stick back for taxi, or it's taught in them...but not all.

In the Dromader, we lock as we're rolling out or clearing the runway, and don't unlock it (centered) until entering the runway for takeoff again. In a thrush, holding the stick back locks the tailwheel, as it does on many other aircraft.

Do what's appropriate for the specific airplane you're flying, but those of you who got an endorsement in your logbook and then became an overnight expert, don't dole out advice on general principle when it may not apply. Someone might just listen and get hurt.

Traumahawk, I suspect you'll find that Catdriver probably has more time in conventional gear aircraft than you'll have in your total career...you might wanna listen to his free advice.