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Tail wheel Flying

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Tail wheel Flying

Old 13th Apr 2014, 07:59
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Think this is the turbo-twin....

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Old 13th Apr 2014, 10:00
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One of the fleet.....

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Old 13th Apr 2014, 10:27
  #23 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by kestrel539
Logie 101,
I had around about 500hrs on gliders, and 150 hrs on nose wheel aircraft when
I converted to a chipmunk. Took around 4 hours on grass.
Have over a 1000 hrs now on a Pawnee and Grob 109, and still hate landing
on a hard runway.
You will get to grips with it shortly, and will never stop learning.
Coming up on 300 hours tailwheel here, varying from G109b and Thruster at one end, to Mk.26 and Stinson at the other.

And last week did my first take-off from a hard runway in a Rollason Condor, didn't use enough rudder, early enough, and scared myself mildly as I nearly went off the side of the runway.

As you say, you never stop learning.

G
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Old 13th Apr 2014, 14:00
  #24 (permalink)  
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Thanks for all the encouragement and advice.

I can relate to a lot of the comments made regarding use of the rudder. At the minute I am just not anticipating how much rudder to use.

I am keen to get back into the aircraft and hopefully start getting a better feel for the aircraft. I will have to learn to move my feet a bit quicker!
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Old 13th Apr 2014, 15:11
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I can relate to a lot of the comments made regarding use of the rudder. At the minute I am just not anticipating how much rudder to use.
With time and experience it will come as a natural 'feel' for the aircraft. Until then, keep an eye on the slip ball, if one is fitted, and do not be afraid to practice with rudder input. Only by seeing what it does to the flying characteristic of the aircraft, can you get confident in using the rudder confidently.

Remember my first take off in my YAK 50, having come off the 52. As you unlock the tailwheel, lots, and lots of rudder (LEFT), to keep the thing straight on the runway. Thankfully, you do not stay on the runway for long
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Old 13th Apr 2014, 15:33
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Two golden rules on using rudder to keep straight - especially in the latter stages of the landing roll when rudder authority is low (low airspeed, blanked rudder by fuselage):

1) ANTICIPATE! (Look deep. Use far peripheral vision if no view over the nose).

2) DO NOT OVER CONTROL! (You'll be correcting your own corrections!).

Might sound 'easier said than done', but believe me it will soon be natural!
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Old 13th Apr 2014, 17:04
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Something to be aware of: There are various types of tail-wheels fitted to tail-draggers and they need to be set up correctly. It wasn't until I owned such an aircraft that I realised that there was quite an art to setting them up correctly!
It's worth spending a bit of time during pre- flight making sure that the tail-wheel is working properly. Look at the differences say between: Chipmunk, Robin DR 220, Piper Cub, Yak etc..
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Old 13th Apr 2014, 17:17
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Good point jxk. Also, on the more technical side of it, also ensure your feet reach the rudder pedals.

We were arriving one fine day, in a lovely open cockpit bi-plane, me flying from the back, owner in front. 'I have' came the shout from the front, as we went over the boundary fence. I gave it to him instantly. We touched down, ground looped, straight into the field at the side of the runway.

It all went by in a strange slow motion effect. WTF, I shouted as we came to a halt. He had not adjusted the rudder pedal length in the front cockpit, and his feet could not give enough purchase to grapple with the crosswind, that sent us ground looping.

Sky God Pride hurt, pretty embarrassed, but that's tail draggers for you......
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Old 13th Apr 2014, 17:23
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Sky God Pride hurt, pretty embarrassed, but that's tail draggers for you......
I don't know if I would blame that one on taildraggers.
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Old 13th Apr 2014, 19:32
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No,exactly, but he has about 25000, TT, and I had a mere 850, on tail draggers, and between us managed to stick it in the fence.

Not the planes fault at all..

Best of it we had to get a lift back in a 182, with the instructor asking us, how did you manage that then?
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Old 13th Apr 2014, 19:51
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Closest I ever came in 35 years taildragging to scratching an aeroplane (actually, writing off a lovely L4 Cub and possibly us as well) was when I gave the landing to a multi-thousand hour professional pilot who had no significant tailwheel experience.

Suffice to say that to this day I don't know how that wing tip didn't dig into the runway and cartwheel us as I grabbed it back - later than I should have done.

I sure learned a lot about flying from that.
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Old 13th Apr 2014, 19:59
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Well I had a birds eye view of that very wingtip scraping and bending into the runway, and thinking, I wonder if it would cartwheel? It did not.

The after analysis, should I have reacted and grabbed it back off him. I decided not to, and went along for the ride. We had a policy of....if I don't like it I will take, and if you don't like it, same...

We had been Cub flying all morning, prior to going for lunch in this thing, and that was into a 300 mtr grass strip, large trees either end. All very satisfying. Smug over confidence and complacency abound..
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Old 14th Apr 2014, 00:43
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All good useful comments from everyone.

I don't know if the OP has driven a (rear-steer) forklift before but I always reckoned the groundwork part of flying a taildragger was much akin to trying to keep a turbo'd forklift straight at 50mph over a bumpy field....

Thinking more on this I wonder if in fact there may be some advantage to be had if one picked up an old forky, took the pointy end mechanicals off, converted it to pedal steer and used it as a 'ground based tailwheel simulator'. Given a cheap forky over here could be got for £500 - £1500 it could be a go - would need side mounted training wheels tho' methinks

FP.
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Old 14th Apr 2014, 03:08
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First_Principal

Borrow a shopping cart from a homeless person and push it backwards. Same concept, good price, and the homeless person will feel valuable.

Wax on. Wax off.
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Old 14th Apr 2014, 05:42
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Borrow a shopping cart
Desert185,

Maybe in your neck of the woods, but don't try that in the UK! For some completely unfathomable reason, shopping carts in the UK are equipped with four castoring wheels and are impossible to steer!

This ludicrous design has even made it to the airports. I remember struggling with 60 Kg of luggage on a cart going down a zig-zag ramp at Gatwick. The newly-arrived American passengers faced with the same control problem, were loudly commenting on the stupidity of the design.
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Old 14th Apr 2014, 16:48
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Didn't they make an Auster once with three castering wheels. It was supposed to overcome the problem of crosswind landings.


The answer was there all the time. Simples!
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Old 14th Apr 2014, 21:13
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We don't have crosswind gear on our shopping carts here in the colonies...but then we have indoor markets and more than our share of bad drivers...i.e. dumb down the carts.
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Old 15th Apr 2014, 21:38
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Hi logie101

I read whatever I could get and watched the videos, which was helpful, but only by flying with a good instructor did I start to "get it".

I found joining a group flying a permit tailwheel the cheapest way to more economically develop the skills, which are of course, still developing!

I find this on almost every very different type I fly, but it gradually comes with time and is very rewarding.
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Old 15th Apr 2014, 22:33
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Didn't they make an Auster once with three castering wheels. It was supposed to overcome the problem of crosswind landings.
Yes, but I think it created more problems than it solved.
It was the Goodyear self-aligning wheels on the 1949 Autocrat
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Old 15th Apr 2014, 23:35
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I used to fly a DC3 with crosswind landing gear, it worked very good and allowed us to touch down crabbed into wind and roll out crabbed into wind.

They finally went back to a normal landing gear because of the extra weight of the crosswind gear.
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