Ab initio teenager - tailwheel or tri...?
Join Date: May 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 30
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Yes, I remember Tiger Moth GAHUE very well. Did many hours towing in it and many being towed by it. Unfortunately it was destroyed in a mid air collision in which the pilot lost his life. We never wore parachutes in it.
Later I became an instructor at a local flying school on Cessna 150's. When I was teaching landings I would always insist on a "tail wheel" type landing with the aircraft stalled onto the ground. It can be done so easily. But it takes more work from the instructor but the results were satisfying. My students took no more time to solo than the average pilot. I then became the person responsible for finding tug pilots for our Chipmunk. It was a piece of cake to convert my students They already knew how to land properly! The only difficulty was taxying' initial roll and keeping it straight after landing and, of course, careful use of the brakes.
I would say that if you can find a tail wheel aircraft to learn on then do it. You can then convert onto a nose wheel aircraft with ease and in many cases still using your tail wheel landing techniques.
Later I became an instructor at a local flying school on Cessna 150's. When I was teaching landings I would always insist on a "tail wheel" type landing with the aircraft stalled onto the ground. It can be done so easily. But it takes more work from the instructor but the results were satisfying. My students took no more time to solo than the average pilot. I then became the person responsible for finding tug pilots for our Chipmunk. It was a piece of cake to convert my students They already knew how to land properly! The only difficulty was taxying' initial roll and keeping it straight after landing and, of course, careful use of the brakes.
I would say that if you can find a tail wheel aircraft to learn on then do it. You can then convert onto a nose wheel aircraft with ease and in many cases still using your tail wheel landing techniques.
