Tail Wheel Endo!
 

Anyone who hasn't tried, go give it a go!

Just got my endorsement over the past couple days:ok:, after a few years of thinking about it.. harder then what i was expecting, and aircraft demands constant attention! keep the stick back, keep it straight! :ok:
looking fwd to another go at it soon!

Good stuff! Citabria or?

Yeah I haven't got mine yet. Still on the "training wheels", although I intend to get my endorsement one day. I'd be interested if people view this list as correct:

Advantages:
- Feel like a "real pilot" (tm)
- 2-5 kts faster aircraft
- No nosewheel to collapse on dodgy strips
- Land on shorter strips (?)

Disadvantages
- Poor visibility in taxi
- More difficult to handle on the ground & takeoff
- Ground looping can f--- your aircraft [my biggest worry]

Yep, citabria. Had enough fun in her that i wann atry some aeros now.
I think i have caught the flying bug again.

When I did mine (Citabria) it was the most fun I have had in the circuit since first solo :}

I agree with propelled.. If you haven't flown a tailwheel yet, get your bum into one!!

Hey shagpile,

Biggest advantages i have noticed during the training was that it makes you to be more precise with general flying/approach speed/stick&rudder etc.. And am sure these new found skills will carry over into regular tricycle types also..
Need to be right on the speed crossing the fence so it stalls just above the rwy for the 3 pointer, cant force it down or it will just bounce of those springy legs it has..
I guess the main reason taildraggers are great for bush strips is because of the prop clearance over the ground?
Still a bit of work to do on the wheel landing technique.. Found that one harder, so thats the next challenge..

Shagpile, your list will need to be refined, depending on what you will fly.
I haven't flown a Husky for years so no longer operate on dodgy fields.
No flaps either so no short strips.
Faster? Faster than what?
Some TW types have good visibility over the nose, if not you deal with it - eg if you can see the runway then you won't be landing on it.
Difficult - not if you use the correct technique and never relax.
Ground loop can ruin your day but nosing over may be a bigger risk.
A "real" pilot - well, I'd just comment that most of the interesting fun airplanes have tailwheels. You could probably wear a flying suit without being laughed at.

Nice - yes it's definitely on my todo list to get TW endorsement.

I guess I've heard just as many nose-over horror stories as ground loops, so you can argue either way. Prop clearance is a definite plus.

I was meaning TW vs NW speed on the same aircraft type. e.g. RV8 vs RV8A.

I've just been signed off to use a Tigermoth, you can add to that list ' not being able to see a damn thing past the PAX head" ,it's almost like a sixth sense that the PAX seems to put their head in exactly the same place as you ,no matter which side your looking out of.
And Yeh, the nasty taildragger has turned me into an aeroplane tragic again, the most interesting aircraft do have the little wheel at the tail end!

Absolutely the way to go!

350-odd tailwheel hours and I am far from mastering it. It can bite you, especially on bush strips or when you're being a bit lazy, but they are a lot of fun. Want a tailwheel challenge? Try a Pitts :ok:

A Pitts is on the to do list, just getting my weight down and in control so I can do a check ride with a mate, who also is doing the weight loss/healthy kick.
Was chatting to a fella with a C185 (and about 300hours in it)and he'd asked a more experienced 185 pilot when he could expect to relax a bit on final, the answer , never! The bitch will bite you the moment you do !
Met

You are all talking of course, about "conventional" wheel aircraft.:) Try a Sonex, (after the Citabria), before you wreck somebody's Pitts.

BTW, the landing's not over until the aircraft is tied down.

you haven't flown! ;)

Can't see me bothering with a sonex, apart from not knowing anyone with one and being 6'3 I doubt I'd fit in one. And yeh , I'm pretty sure we're talking about conventional gear aircraft although no one has used that term ! And I'm pretty sure the owner of the Pitts won't let me loose with it till I'm reasonably in control of his aircraft , but you just never know ! So thanks for the advice frank ,I'll take it on board!

I own a Sonex and I used to be 6' tall before I got old. It will do aerobatics in America, but apparantly Australian air is different so not allowed here. I have full leg room and heaps of head, elbow, room, and some luggage space. Oh and I'm 100KG. 112KTS @ 15 LPH AUW.

The Sonex, being a short fuselage small control input aircraft, I would suggest you think about things like this before strapping on a Pitts.

If you want to fly one, PM me. I also have an Auster if you really want a challenge.

With metalman's experience he won't have any problems landing the Pitts. Of course the two-seater is like a truck compared to the single seater. Normal transition to the Pitts is after some solo in the Decathlon then some back seat circuits where you also don't see much out the front. Phil does tailwheel endorsements in his Pitts.
Glide (we don't normally use that word for a Pitts) approach - on downwind with the wingtip on the runway centreline - abeam the numbers close the throttle and turn.
However, metalman may not like the flat inverted spins etc that I consider a mandatory part of a Pitts check-out.

Tail wheels are fun but you need big wheels to really make the most of it!!!

Sort of right, a little bit bigger wheels (Mebe 800's) are good. The rooly big wheels do have an advantage in extreme conditions but most don't use the advantage. A lot of the yanks fly off tar strips with "Tundra tyres" and think they have to have huge wheels just to land on grass.
You don't need huge wheels to water ski (I'm told).
There is a fair bit of bullsh!t that goes along with the "Tailwheel" thing.
Frinstance in all but the very extreme conditions a 182makes a more versitile aircraft than a 180, lands and takes off in the same distance, more inside room, faster and will work off all but the roughest strips.
Tailwheel flying is good fun but rooly not that hard, girls do it so how hard can it be? What it does do is make you a better pilot by using the footrests on the floor more.
There's something I haven's seen done with a nosewheel, come to think of it I haven't seen it with a tailwheel before either.

Frank, be careful what you offer, I am severely addicted to these damn machines, if you happen to be in Victoria I will take you up on the offer, I'm getting my Kitfox type regoed this month and will be making a pest of myself at airfields state wide so PM me some time !

I recently did my Tailwheel Endo in a Tiger Moth as well, more fun than you can poke a stick at!