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Old 12th Apr 2014, 18:02
  #12 (permalink)  
piperboy84
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Glens o' Angus by way of LA
Age: 60
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I started flying a 180hp tail dragger 4 years ago, apart from the initial 10 hour insurance mandated instruction check out, the rest of my learning is self taught with lots of reading books like The Compleat Taildragger, Stick and Rudder etc. I now have about 300 hours in it.

The main points I think are as follows:
Anticipating use of the rudder.i.e don't wait till the arse starts swinging for you to get on the rudder pedals

If the wind is blowing from the right on takeoff don't assume the left turning tendencies like torque when the tail comes up will cancel out the need for a proper cross wind take off technique. Get full right aileron in and reduce it as speed picks up, if not you will find yourself skipping down the runway which is hard on then gear and if the wind is strong enough you will be heading for the bushes off the side of the runway.

When taxiing in confined spaces allow momentum to build before trying to turn, then use frequent short stabs on the brakes to get it turning which saves revving the **** out of it.

In the initial stages of learning to land, if your gonna bollox up the 3 pointer it's better to let the tail wheel contact the ground first then the mains, if you keep letting the mains touchdown first it then forces the tail down which increases your angle of attack and the whole thing balloons back up and your left 10ft above the ground in a pregnant pause on the edge of a stall.

If you get caught in a situation where the landing is pushing up against the planes or your own personal cross wind limits, land it at an angle across the runway, most runways are wide enough to allow you to shave 10 or 20 degrees of the crosswind and in a small 2 or 4 seater TD they will pull up before you run up off the tar and onto the grass on the upwind side of the runway. And don't pay any heed to what the spectators say, your the PIC and it's your safety.

All the talk about you have to be some kind of expert or super pilot to fly a TD is nonsense, just treat every Takeoff and landing with full concentration (as you should with any plane regardless of type) and think thru what the wind is doing and the config needed to combat and/or use it to your advantage.

And finally I am sure you've heard this before, you ain't done obsessing about wind direction till it's in the hangar.

Every day is a school day !
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