Flying tailwheel aircraft

[Lister Noble]

I am very interested in vintage planes and belong to two clubs where they are flown.
I have been offered shares in various tailwheel groups and also the use of a club aircraft.
I will do a tailwheel conversion when I obtain my PPL but am a bit confused by conflicting advice.
Some say as soon as I have the conversion they will check me out and I can fly their plane.
Others say I will need a number of hours tailwheel experience before I can fly,and I understand that there can also be an issue with low hours tailwheel pilots with some insurance companies.

Is there any advice or official guidance on this subject?
Lister:D

[High Wing Drifter]

Lister,

Personally I had no problems doing my conversion on a Super Cub and then joining a group running a Vagabond. Actually it was the other way around. I joined the group and then did my conversion. This didn't seem to concern any of the members as I has to be voted in.

What type of tailwheel are the hours requirements groups running? From my personal experience of the Vagabond, I would say that I suspect building some hours in a docile taildragger like the Cub family before stepping up to something more demanding might be a good idea. Even a 65hp yellow peril can still become a handful. I say "I suspect" as my experience is thus far limited, but not uneducational.

[Genghis the Engineer]

It's not unusual to find that individual syndicates or insurance companies stipulate a certain number of tailwheel hours before they'll let you join, or fly their aircraft.

But, there is no law about it, beyond the requirement that if you didn't learn on a taildragger you'll have to be signed off "differences training", which depending upon experience and aptitude seems to take somewhere between about 1 and 5 hours.

G

[Pitts2112]

Lister,

Getting a tailwheel endorsement is no big deal. I got mine on a Super Decathalon and did 10 hours (soloed at 5 but the club's requirement was 10 to be signed off).

You'll never regret it. All the interesting airplanes in the world are taildraggers (he said, slowly lowering his head below the parapet) :)

Pitts2112

[Lister Noble]

Thanks for the advice,the tailwheel aircraft I have been offered to fly in various club/group share arrangements include a Chipmunk,Tiger Moth,Aeronca and possibly a Cub.
It is obvious from your replies that it is usually up to the individual group or club to make their own arrangements re who can fly their aircraft.
The really important thing is to get my licence first!
Lister:D

[MadamBreakneck]

Don't forget: flying a tailwheel aircraft is the easy bit :E

Dealing with it on the ground is the fun bit :\

Sorry,
MadamB

PS. The following is aimed at ultralight tailwheel aircraft, but covers the salient points...
Tony Hayes Training Systems (http://members.dodo.com.au/tonyhayes/TailWheelStudent.htm)

[TheBeeKeeper]

I joined the de Havilland Queen Bee group following a break of 2 years after getting my PPL. Did a couple of hours in an Archer, got bored and saw the advert in Flyer for the Bee.....

As for insurance, the company were very understanding and didn't increase the premiums, what they did do however was layer my excess.

Initially my liability was £1000, then after 10 hours P1 on type reduced it to £750. Now with more than 50 hours P1, my excess is the same as the rest of the group.

Enjoy your PPL, and as MadamB suggests... flying is the easy bit. You may have a 15kt wind straight down the strip.... but getting a tail skid with no brakes too and from the strip is another story!

TBK

[S-Works]

did my tailwheel in an hour and have flown loads more "interesting" types since. Cub is great fun and the chippy is lovely and the fokker more so.

Flying and landing them is the easy part, moving them around after the landing is the hard part. Its not over until the aircraft is locked in the hanger!!

[High Wing Drifter]

An hour! Blimey. We couldn't have even completed the gen handling in that time. Took me about 5 hours. But then again he did say after a session "Do a few solo circuits if you want". It was about one and a half hours before I returned :D FWIW, to be comprehensively converted it must surely take a few hours just to fit in crosswinds, wheeler landings, wing-down and crab approaches. One surely has to at least have a few goes at each before one is satisfied that one is a tailwheel demon :O

In fact crosswinds was the worst part as we had absolutely gorgeous weather for a what felt like couple of weeks and he wouldn't sign me off until he had seen a reasonable approach with something a bit challenging.

I agree with the ground handling comments. I nearly looped by not putting in enough into wind aileron :uhoh:

[S-Works]

did the lot in a howling crosswind 800ft cloudbase and rain actually!

I had over a thousand hours at the time of conversion so general handling came pretty easily. Approaches wing down crab or otherwise are not any different. It was the ground handling that focused the mind, putting it on the deck in three points or a wheeler was nothing compared to controlling it when I put it there. When a dragger is off the deck it is no different to any other plane.

I don't consider myself a tailwheel demon anymore than I consider myself a trike demon, weightshift demon, instrument demon or otherwise but neither in the couple of hundred tailwheel hours I have flown since have I had to many close calls..... But there is still time of course! :D

[Genghis the Engineer]

1:20 with Bob Cole at Thruxton, not a man who takes prisoners either!

Frankly I think that people get too worked up on the subject of taildraggers. Yes it's great fun, but also a different skill that MUST be learned and practiced. Also there are many really nice aeroplanes that are taildraggers.

But, they're still aeroplanes, nothing mysterious about them, nor is it true (in my opinion) that no aeroplane is any good unless it is a taildragger.

G

100ish tailwheel hours.

[DubTrub]

nor is it true (in my opinion) that no aeroplane is any good unless it is a taildragger Hear! Hear!, G, with 90% of my hours in a taildragger, some of the best flying has been in the humble 172.

Costs 3 times per hour, but then whoever got in to aviation to save money?

[Final 3 Greens]

All the interesting airplanes in the world are taildraggers Couldn't agree more, such boring aircraft, Concorde, SR71, EE Lightning, F15 Eagle, TSR2, Hunter ......