Langewiseche is excellent on all aspects of flying, although it's fair to point out he was a promoter of the tricycle gear for everyday flying. He took the view that conventional (that is, tailwheel) undercarriage was good as takeoff gear but not so good as landing gear. It's no accident, though, that modern high performance aerobatic types are tailwheelers (retractable gear would add a lot of weight) and, as pointed out above, being able to fly tailwheel opens up access to a variety of interesting aircraft, old and new.
PS: The US edition of David Robson's book is called "Conventional Gear" and it's cheaper on Amazon.
Last edited by FNG; 24th February 2003 at 12:20.