Taildragger Technique for Gliders

Russell Holtz's "Flight Training Manual for Gliders" has a pretty good section on landing. It is lesson 6.1. Covers the technique for landings where the tail wheel and main wheel touch at the same time

AE

As a (retired) tow pilot, I have many, /many/ takeoffs and landings in
tail draggers and the vast majority of my glider operations are in tail
wheel equipped gliders, as well.Â* To put it bluntly, I see no comparison
between the two except for those gliders equipped with /steerable/ tail
wheels (mostly self launchers), and in those, the distance between the
main and tail wheels is so great and the steering authority of the tail
wheel so small (and non castering) that there is no need (in my opinion)
to worry about it.

In nose or tail dragger gliders, my best advice is to get onto the main
wheel only as quickly as possible for directional control with the
rudder.Â* With either end of the glider dragging on the ground there is
not much directional control.

Best,
Dan

On 12/27/2018 5:43 PM, Papa3 wrote:
Is anyone aware of a glider textbook or manual which teaches the details of taildragger takeoffs and landings in gliders? I have lots of examples that I've used personally with students based on my power training a Champ and dozens of available texts oriented at the power taildragger training.

Looking back through RAS, I found a couple of old threads but not what I was looking for. I just want to re-use someone else's diagrams and text. Failing that, I'll end up formally writing up my own notes along with those from a couple of other club CFIGs.

Not necessarily looking for a new thread on "why learning in Schweizers sucks" or "how come Americans don't know how to land." But it's Winter in the northern hemisphere, so I can probably predict where this will end up.

Erik Mann (P3)

--
Dan, 5J

On Friday, December 28, 2018 at 11:51:25 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
As a (retired) tow pilot, I have many, many takeoffs and
landings in tail draggers and the vast majority of my glider
operations are in tail wheel equipped gliders, as well.Â* To put it
bluntly, I see no comparison between the two except for those
gliders equipped with steerable tail wheels (mostly self
launchers), and in those, the distance between the main and tail
wheels is so great and the steering authority of the tail wheel so
small (and non castering) that there is no need (in my opinion) to
worry about it.


I agree 100% with Dan's comments. There is no comparison between the two, nothing about them is anywhere near a comparison. Keep the glider straight and wings level is my advice.
In nose or tail dragger gliders, my best advice is to get onto the
main wheel only as quickly as possible for directional control with
the rudder.Â* With either end of the glider dragging on the ground
there is not much directional control.



Best,

Dan




On 12/27/2018 5:43 PM, Papa3 wrote:



Is anyone aware of a glider textbook or manual which teaches the details of taildragger takeoffs and landings in gliders? I have lots of examples that I've used personally with students based on my power training a Champ and dozens of available texts oriented at the power taildragger training.

Looking back through RAS, I found a couple of old threads but not what I was looking for. I just want to re-use someone else's diagrams and text. Failing that, I'll end up formally writing up my own notes along with those from a couple of other club CFIGs.

Not necessarily looking for a new thread on "why learning in Schweizers sucks" or "how come Americans don't know how to land." But it's Winter in the northern hemisphere, so I can probably predict where this will end up.

Erik Mann (P3)





--

Dan, 5J

I agree too, no issue.
Then again : some people should just take up golf.
Tom

you don’t say what you are looking for.
1: my experience is that aviation insurance companies do not consider glider time to be “tail wheel time“.
I expect that this is because gliders don't want to swap ends while taxiing..
2: there are significant differences in ground controllability along gliders. Important factors include
A: whether the tail wheel is fixed, “steerable�, or castering
B: the degree of rudder and aileron authority at taxi speeds.
For example, a Blanik L-13 with a castering tailwheel retains rudder and aileron authority to extremely low speeds, and can be turned rather sharply with opposite aileron, simply not possible in a glider with a fixed tail wheel once that's on the ground.
Each glider had its own nuances.