CE
Quote:
At the risk of offending some posters here it is my personal opinion that if you are not equally competent and at ease with both the three point landing and the wheel landing you have not finished learning how to fly tail wheel airplanes.
Understood, but here is the quandary I have, I am a novice TD pilot (200hrs), the aircraft I have the manufacturer, in fact the guy that owns the company and builds them, advised me during the purchase test flight not to do wheeler landings nor high speed taxi in this plane. I had to demonstrate 1 wheeler landing during my 15 hour dual for insurance and TD endorsement. Where I live TD instructors are like hens teeth, especially ones with FAA authority to sign my logbook, so much so that when I had to get 15 hours in make and model for insurance and a FAA TD endorsement I went to the US for it.
So the net result is a guy sitting here in Scotland that flies the hell out of his TD always doing 3 pointers, does not practice wheelers nor high speed taxi, but would love to do them purely from a control and learning point of view (and not for xwinds etc) but due to the fear of arsing it up and wrecking the plane does not. Although on several approaches I contemplated a wheeler then decided at the last minute against it and 3 pointed it in.
With the above in mind is the safest solution to learning on my own to perhaps when doing take off’s from long tar runways, raise the tail and not apply full power then run along for a thousand feet or so balancing before going to full power then take off normally. I am loathe to practice balancing on 2 wheels on landing with the slowing speed offering a bigger chance of ground looping it.