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#1
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Some tailwheel questions/comments
This weekend I began my tailwheel endorsement endeavor and had a
lesson in a shiny 160 hp Citabria. It was great fun but the stick and rudder forces seemed pretty heavy compared to the C-150 I am used to. The trim was in an unfamiliar position and I didn't get used to using it enough on the first flight perhaps. However are there tailwheels that are lighter to handle than the citabria? The other issue I was wondering about: does the position of the CG shift when the tail is raised? So is the tailwheel more stable while taxing at a higher speed on the two front wheels? In other words, I am wondering if a tailwheel taxing with the tail raised has a similar CG position to a tricycle gear airplane. |
#2
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Some tailwheel questions/comments
Little Endian wrote:
This weekend I began my tailwheel endorsement endeavor and had a lesson in a shiny 160 hp Citabria. It was great fun but the stick and rudder forces seemed pretty heavy compared to the C-150 I am used to. The trim was in an unfamiliar position and I didn't get used to using it enough on the first flight perhaps. However are there tailwheels that are lighter to handle than the citabria? The other issue I was wondering about: does the position of the CG shift when the tail is raised? So is the tailwheel more stable while taxing at a higher speed on the two front wheels? In other words, I am wondering if a tailwheel taxing with the tail raised has a similar CG position to a tricycle gear airplane. Did you ask your instructor these questions? |
#3
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Some tailwheel questions/comments
Little Endian wrote in news:1190700037.145345.27050
@y42g2000hsy.googlegroups.com: This weekend I began my tailwheel endorsement endeavor and had a lesson in a shiny 160 hp Citabria. It was great fun but the stick and rudder forces seemed pretty heavy compared to the C-150 I am used to. The trim was in an unfamiliar position and I didn't get used to using it enough on the first flight perhaps. However are there tailwheels that are lighter to handle than the citabria? The other issue I was wondering about: does the position of the CG shift when the tail is raised? So is the tailwheel more stable while taxing at a higher speed on the two front wheels? In other words, I am wondering if a tailwheel taxing with the tail raised has a similar CG position to a tricycle gear airplane. Not really, and I'd be surprised if you could taxi a Citabria with the tailwheel raised anyway. Easy in a cub, though. The problem with the Citabria is it's a bit too easy for tailwheel conversion. You'll get the basics, but if you try a cub afterwards you'll find it significantly more difficult, wheras the other way around would be a piece of cake. Citabria is a good airplane, but it's not the best tailwheel trainer for that reason. However, it will certainly do in a pinch! The CG doesn't change significantly when the tail is raised, though, to answer your question, and fast taxiing is something best left to someone with a LOT of tailwhel time. Taxiing on the mains is something best left to airshow pilots or guys that can afford to replace props as easily as they would buy a cup of coffee. Now ask me how I know this. Bertie |
#4
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Some tailwheel questions/comments
john smith wrote in news:46f8f93b$0$17147
: In article . com, Little Endian wrote: This weekend I began my tailwheel endorsement endeavor and had a lesson in a shiny 160 hp Citabria. It was great fun but the stick and rudder forces seemed pretty heavy compared to the C-150 I am used to. The trim was in an unfamiliar position and I didn't get used to using it enough on the first flight perhaps. However are there tailwheels that are lighter to handle than the citabria? The other issue I was wondering about: does the position of the CG shift when the tail is raised? So is the tailwheel more stable while taxing at a higher speed on the two front wheels? In other words, I am wondering if a tailwheel taxing with the tail raised has a similar CG position to a tricycle gear airplane. One has to wonder if this is a troll. Might be, but students often get ideas like this in their heads. might be because they have vivid imaginations, but it's more likely they've been listening to the guy who's been hanging around the airport, talking about the day he's going to get that Pitts (just waiting for the right one to come along, there;s so much junk around) Almost never flies and causes a ruction in the pattern every time he does and tells tales of his derring do that he's ripped off from "I learned about flying from that" in the collection of 1950s Flying magazines he bought at a yard sale. You know the guy I mean! There's one at every airport and he'd be most useful as a chock if he had enough brains to lie still. Bertie |
#5
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Some tailwheel questions/comments
"Bertie the Bunyip" wrote
Not really, and I'd be surprised if you could taxi a Citabria with the tailwheel raised anyway. Easy in a cub, though. The problem with the Citabria is it's a bit too easy for tailwheel conversion. You'll get the basics, but if you try a cub afterwards you'll find it significantly more difficult, wheras the other way around would be a piece of cake. Citabria is a good airplane, but it's not the best tailwheel trainer for that reason. However, it will certainly do in a pinch! That's an interesting comment - I just got my tailwheel endorsement in a Cub and have flown it another 4 hrs and dozens of landings since. I plan to transition to a Husky (180 HP CS prop), any comments about what to expect, relative difficulty, etc? BDS |
#6
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Some tailwheel questions/comments
"BDS" wrote in
: "Bertie the Bunyip" wrote Not really, and I'd be surprised if you could taxi a Citabria with the tailwheel raised anyway. Easy in a cub, though. The problem with the Citabria is it's a bit too easy for tailwheel conversion. You'll get the basics, but if you try a cub afterwards you'll find it significantly more difficult, wheras the other way around would be a piece of cake. Citabria is a good airplane, but it's not the best tailwheel trainer for that reason. However, it will certainly do in a pinch! That's an interesting comment - I just got my tailwheel endorsement in a Cub and have flown it another 4 hrs and dozens of landings since. I plan to transition to a Husky (180 HP CS prop), any comments about what to expect, relative difficulty, etc? Never flown a Husky, but what you learned in the cub will get you into anyting else with relative ease if you've absorbed what the cub taught you. You've learned to get the stick back to the stop during rollout , hopefully.(actualy, in a cub you have to have it there as you touch down or you end up porpoising down the runway, eh? ) If you weren't attentive to the rudder you ended up going backwards. What else do you need to know? It teaches you what your feet are for and makes you look like an idiot if you don't! Whatever else you get into, you'll have to adapt to, obviously, but it should be relatively simple now. If you went from a Cub to a Citabria, for instance, you'd find the full aft stick touchdown you'd used in the cub would land you tailwheel first followed by the mains, so you land a little flatter in the Citabria, but just a little. You'd be amazed at how easily the Citabria was tracking for you down the runway with little or no need to pedal the rudder around like you had in the cub, aside from that, the rest of the checkout would be mostly about the aicraft systems.. Some of the faster homebuilt bipes also touch down like this. Starduster, for instance. If you got into a T-Craft after acub you'd have an even easier time, the biggest difference being the float (take these with a pinch of salt as the last time I flew a T-Craft was in the 70s) the Luscombe, no problem either. Again, it;'s clean so it won't just come to a halt in mid-air like th ecub will when you pull the power off, but once you get used to that, you're in. The main things about the Luscombe are that it spins relatively easily compared to a lot of airplanes, but it's not a problem if you're paying attention to it and the fact that though it's no harder on the ground than a cub, it will happily roll itsefl into a small wad of aluminum if you **** up and groundloop it, wheras the cub will only provide the peanut gallery at the airport with a few laughs. Even a Pitts isn't such a big step up if you have mastered a cub (as opposed to having jus survived a few hours in a Cub) I still haven't flown a better training airplane. Bertie |
#7
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Some tailwheel questions/comments
"Bertie the Bunyip" wrote
Never flown a Husky, but what you learned in the cub will get you into anyting else with relative ease if you've absorbed what the cub taught you. It's still teaching me as I continue to work on perfecting my technique. After a couple thousand hours in tricycle gear airplanes, I'm finding that just going around the pattern chasing that painted-on 3-pointer is more fun than I could have imagined. Who would have thought that this little 1940's vintage 85HP airplane with no electrical system could be so challenging and so much fun?! You've learned to get the stick back to the stop during rollout , hopefully.(actualy, in a cub you have to have it there as you touch down or you end up porpoising down the runway, eh? ) If you weren't attentive to the rudder you ended up going backwards. What else do you need to know? It teaches you what your feet are for and makes you look like an idiot if you don't! I have to smile reading this. I'm flying from a grass strip that's less than smooth in spots and I was getting lazy holding the stick all the way back on the stop during the rollout. Finally, my instructor turns around and laughingly says to me "You're gonna lose it one of these times if you keep letting the stick bounce like that." That cured me of that little bad habit right then and there. Even a Pitts isn't such a big step up if you have mastered a cub (as opposed to having jus survived a few hours in a Cub) I'm no longer just surviving but I also know I haven't quite mastered it yet. I still haven't flown a better training airplane. The best part is that my wife absolutely loves flying in the thing, especially with the door and window open. What a blast! BDS |
#8
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Some tailwheel questions/comments
Not really, and I'd be surprised if you could taxi a Citabria with the tailwheel raised anyway. Easy in a cub, though. Firstly this isnt a troll and if somebody feels it is, they simply need to ignore it, thats how usenet works. Anyways, the question was based more on what I saw on the takeoff run where we raise the tail as airspeed increases. It just felt more stable and more like a conventional gear takeoff run in that phase, so I was just wondering. The intent of the question wasn't about how to taxi at a high speed. The problem with the Citabria is it's a bit too easy for tailwheel conversion. You'll get the basics, but if you try a cub afterwards you'll find it significantly more difficult, wheras the other way around would be a piece of cake. Citabria is a good airplane, but it's not the best tailwheel trainer for that reason. However, it will certainly do in a pinch! Thanks for the tip, I have been looking to find a place to learn in a cub but the closest one is about 70 miles away, so that may have to wait. The CG doesn't change significantly when the tail is raised, though, to answer your question, and fast taxiing is something best left to someone with a LOT of tailwhel time. Taxiing on the mains is something best left to airshow pilots or guys that can afford to replace props as easily as they would buy a cup of coffee. What my instructor seemed to imply (and things didn't really sink in till about a day after the flying) was that the takeoff roll is more stable when the tail is up. So I was wondering if the CG shifts forward when the tail is raised because this is a more stable configuration than when the CG is behind the main wheels. |
#9
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Some tailwheel questions/comments
Little Endian wrote:
This weekend I began my tailwheel endorsement endeavor and had a lesson in a shiny 160 hp Citabria. It was great fun but the stick and rudder forces seemed pretty heavy compared to the C-150 I am used to. The trim was in an unfamiliar position and I didn't get used to using it enough on the first flight perhaps. However are there tailwheels that are lighter to handle than the citabria? The other issue I was wondering about: does the position of the CG shift when the tail is raised? So is the tailwheel more stable while taxing at a higher speed on the two front wheels? In other words, I am wondering if a tailwheel taxing with the tail raised has a similar CG position to a tricycle gear airplane. So you've found out what those pedals on the floor are for. (: Seriously, after flying ultralight and light sport planes, I was really surprised that a 150 will fly fine with your feet on the floor. Both the light sport planes I've flown required aggressive rudder control, with one of them needing substantial "top rudder" at times. Neither are taildraggers. |
#10
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Some tailwheel questions/comments
"BDS" wrote in
: "Bertie the Bunyip" wrote Never flown a Husky, but what you learned in the cub will get you into anyting else with relative ease if you've absorbed what the cub taught you. It's still teaching me as I continue to work on perfecting my technique. After a couple thousand hours in tricycle gear airplanes, I'm finding that just going around the pattern chasing that painted-on 3-pointer is more fun than I could have imagined. Who would have thought that this little 1940's vintage 85HP airplane with no electrical system could be so challenging and so much fun?! Yep. Best thing is it never really grows old. It's still one of the most satisfying things to do in an airplane as far as I'm concerned. Heaven is slipping over the fence in a biplane and settling onto freshly cut grass... You've learned to get the stick back to the stop during rollout , hopefully.(actualy, in a cub you have to have it there as you touch down or you end up porpoising down the runway, eh? ) If you weren't attentive to the rudder you ended up going backwards. What else do you need to know? It teaches you what your feet are for and makes you look like an idiot if you don't! I have to smile reading this. I'm flying from a grass strip that's less than smooth in spots and I was getting lazy holding the stick all the way back on the stop during the rollout. Finally, my instructor turns around and laughingly says to me "You're gonna lose it one of these times if you keep letting the stick bounce like that." That cured me of that little bad habit right then and there. Yeah, you have to do that it petty much al talidraggers after they're down. Even a Pitts isn't such a big step up if you have mastered a cub (as opposed to having jus survived a few hours in a Cub) I'm no longer just surviving but I also know I haven't quite mastered it yet. Well, it takes time is all. Once you're off and sort of wobbling along on your own the real learning begins, eh? I still haven't flown a better training airplane. The best part is that my wife absolutely loves flying in the thing, especially with the door and window open. What a blast! Excellent. Enjoy yourself. One piece of advice I can give that's useful to new talidragger pilots, or at least I've found it so, is to get religious about aving the controls in the right position when taxiing in wind. Any wind at all. Even three knots. For one thing, having the ailerons in particualr, plcaed correctly, you increase your control of the airplane dramatically. Being in the habit of doing this wil give you the edge you need it during crosswind landings. It's habits that come to the forefront when your brain degenerates to it's primevel state when things start happening quickly. BTW, when taxiing with a tailwind you need to reverse, as yo know. Don't forget to consider the taxi speed of your airplane in relation to the wind. Elevators are tricky in this situation. If you got a roaring tailwind, you need to have them forward (Careful with the power here or you could have an instant headwind as far as your elevators are concerned) It can be hard to tell if you need the elevators up or down when you're taxing downwind, but th erule I use is if you can feel the stick "click" as the wind passes ovr the elavotrs as you move them up and down you should have them down. Make sense? Bertie |
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