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Old 15th Jul 2005, 16:23
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Shaggy Sheep Driver
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: UK
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quote:
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I've thad the tail lift more than once in strong tailwinds (and got it down again!)
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Can I ask how? Is it stick fully forward? Or the alternative I imagine is a burst of power and stick back? As somone mentioned on grass, uphill using forward stick goes against all my senses.
Ah! The golden question! Either might work, and either might result in tears. The Chipmunk is a tail-heavy taildragger, and that's why I probably got away with it. Can't remeber how I got it down - probably stick back and power - there isn't time to think, you just do what feels best.

In a tail-light aeroplane, I think if the tail comes up unintentionally, it could be very difficult to get it down again. If you pull the stick back and bang on full power, it's sh!t or bust - it's probably the best way to get the tail down again, but if it fails and she goes over, it could be quite spectacular and quite expensive, too. And don't forgrt I'm talking about wind-induced nose-overs (both mine were on the apron, on concrete). As Miserlou said, most nose-overs occur on grass and there's probably an element of the wheels sinking in. In that case, the last thing you want to do is put on power.

There's no simple answer, I'm afaraid.

The best method, and the one I try to stick with these days, is to keep that tail on the ground in the first place.

SSD
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