[Rant Warning] Tailwheel Training

"Newps" wrote in message ...
"Dan Thomas" wrote in message
om...


The student has to maintain control of an unruly airplane and
has to be able to read a map, use a wet compass and and a watch.

Huh? Once in the air a plane is a plane. Maybe yours isn't rigged right.

Oh, man. Have you never flown a Champ or Cub or some other older
design that had lots of adverse yaw, and that might flick over into a
spin if you skidded it around the base-to-final turn? One that
required some serious attention in most maneuvers if you were going to
gain any proficiency in it at all? Even if it's rigged perfectly?
These older designs make the pilot aware of his need for precision,
and once he learns it his flying of all other aircraft improves
enormously. In 12 years here I've seen these taildraggers cure a lot
of sloppiness. We've used them to demonstrate the skidding-turn spin,
thereby showing the student what eventually awaits him if he gets
stupid at low altitude. Some guys get their PPL in a 172 or Warrior
and then go buy an old 140 or Champ or Tri-Pacer and get into trouble
almost immediately.
We also use the Citabria for emergency maneuvers training (basic
aerobatics) to show the control inputs required to get an airplane
upright again if control is lost in extreme turbulence or wake
turbulence. Try THAT in a 172.
A plane is not a plane. That idea has killed way to many
uninitated folks.

Dan