Originally Posted by Julian
Just been reading my July issue of flying which has come through the door. On the back page where they look back at 'past articles' is this snippet....
Discuss......
What a load of cock.
Flying should know better. As others have said, there will be little if any difference in the air. But especially landing, a taildragger is far less forgiving of sloppy technique. It will teach correct 'fully held off' landings, and also demand proper use of rudder for directional control. Tri-gears are far too forgiving in these repects and studes can and do get away with not learning to do it correctly. And if they do not later do a tailwheel conversion they may NEVER do it properly (just watch, at any GA field, all those 3-point arrivals of C172s and PA28s).
IMHO ALL pilots should train in taildraggers at least up to early solo stage, just so they learn how to land properly. It would save us all a fortune in expensive insurance premiums brought about by broken nosewheels caused by pilots not holding off properly - or even landing nosewheel first.
Learning to do it correctly is no more difficult than getting it wrong - but it produces a more skillful pilot who can fly a wider range of aeroplanes and will be far less likely to break them.
SSD