Terryd23 wrote:..... Am I out of my mind to even be considering this - having never flown a tailwheel before? ......

Even the greatest taildragger pilot in the world (modesty prevents me from using his name ) wasn't born knowing how to do it. We all had zero t/w time when we started. So go for it!!

hotrod150 wrote:

Terryd23 wrote:..... Am I out of my mind to even be considering this - having never flown a tailwheel before? ......

Even the greatest taildragger pilot in the world (modesty prevents me from using his name ) wasn't born knowing how to do it. We all had zero t/w time when we started. So go for it!!

Just think..if you become a taildragger pilot you will have some better stories to tell.

I don't think you're out of your mind. I soloed in a J-3 after 11 hours when I was just 16 and had never flow anything else. Once you get used to it you'll wonder why everyone makes it such a big deal.

Just call Rick up. He's dang good at what he does. And there's no better place to learn than Cut Bank, MT. Lots of short field, cross wind, grass strip. The wind BLOWS! up there. But you will have confidence when your log book is signed off.

http://montanabyair.com/

Learned to fly.....


....in a C-120. Flew a Citabria for 1,800 hours on pipeline patrol and a Twin Beech for 800 hours flying mail back in the day. Had a long career with the airlines but kept flying light aircraft all of those years. Jets are for kids! Owned a S1C Pitts, and a 260 HP Skybolt for 15 years. A 210 HP Maule has been mine for the past nine years. Nothing like a tailwheel airplane. Loved all of them.

Do it. You will have a ball. They will always be more challenging than a trike....but that is part of the fun. Deep down inside you will always be a bit better airman as a result. Let us know how it goes.

Bob

I forgot to mention, you'll be flying a nice 160 hp maule in Montana with Rick.

Started my flight training in 2002 at the age of 66. Got my private in '05 flying 150's,172's and Cherokees. Purchased a RANS S-7LS in December and just got my TW endorsement. Will be 75 in May and never had so much fun in my life. Try it, you'll like it.

The biggest thing to remember is what my instructor pounded into me, or tried to
"Fly the plane till it stops rolling"
I learned that real fast on my 1st landing when the I touched her down nice & smooth. I was so pleased with myself I then proceeded to forget my feet were attached . Right then & there (after he saved a ground loop) I understood what he meant "Fly the plane till it stops rolling"...."Fly the plane till it stops rolling"...."Fly the plane till it stops rolling".
Get that ingrained & the rest is just desert

"Fly the plane till it stops rolling"

In my experience, this is what tail wheel pilot converts (from tri grear) need to remember most. I got bitten by this after hundreds of hours in tailwheeland. I spun my Pacer around in a fast taxi (wind gust ) which resulted in no damage to anything other than my pride. It must have looked like an old re run episode of "Rockford Files" where he does an 80 mph U turn on the SM Freeway (I think every episode has a scene like this). I was only doing about 20 mph though.

That said, its a real easy transition that any good stick and rudder can learn. The anology that my TW instructor told me was: If flying a Tri grear is like riding a Bicycle, then flying a TW is like riding a unicycle. I personally don't think its any harder to fly TW (save for Pacers and Globe Swifts). There are some different methods that need to be learned though and it will only make you a better stick and rudder.

I recently traded my Pacer for a TW converted 172.

JEEZ Terry you can see Lockhaven from where you are.You are spitting distance from the place where thousands of taildraggers were built.If you haven't done this by June get over to the "Sentimental Journey" fly-in and that will cure you of nosewheel flying.
Really, don't make a big deal out of learnig tailwheel just do it with an instructor who really knows how to teach it.

Bill

Do you really want to fly a plane with a cute little wheel in the back? Come on, just kidding!!

I say "DO IT"!! Some day I'll be in the same boat and be thinking about getting rid of that training wheel on the nose. Actually, I'm already thinking it, but there's no way I can afford the TW I want right now.

58Skylane

I was camping in Minnesota in 1994, next to my 1966 C-182, when an early morning hail storm came up. Very serious baseball size hail with frozen clusters. Lots of big golf ball dimples everywhere. The insurance company totaled the airplane.. Still flew fine. Took the settlement check and bought my Maule. Never looked back. Wanted to get back to tailwheel flying anyhow.

Cut my teeth in a PA-11 and Clipper. Bought a C-120 in 1969. It was destroyed in a wind storm in 1974. Later bought a 1956 C-182, then the 1966 182. Never liked the way the 1966 flew. The 120 and 1956 spoiled me. Very honest and fun airplanes.

Gene

P.S. The hail destroyed my tent too.

GD

Do you land on the mains and hold the nose up or just plop it down on all three and drive away?
If you land your 172 on just the mains and hold the nose just slightly off the ground until nearly stopped you will not have any trouble transitioning to a TW plane. The same on takeoff, if you lift the nose just as soon as possible and hold it just off the ground until takeoff you will have no trouble.

One thing the doomsdayers seem to forget is that you can get into a "wheelbarrow" (running on just the nose wheel) that is one hell of a lot worse than most groundloops. Heck if you do let the tail get away from you from a cross wind gust odds are it will be at slow speed and won't do anything anyway. You will just spin around, big deal, just stand on the rudder and come on around slowly till you are pointed the right way and taxi off.

Once you get a TW plane then you can enter into the never ending debate over "wheelies", 3 pointers, carrier landings, tail high, tail low, all of that, you never need to look far for something to argue about.

Take an hour of instruction from a "good" instructor and then go buy what you want>

Have fun.

Twofiveecho wrote:58Skylane

I was camping in Minnesota in 1994, next to my 1966 C-182, when an early morning hail storm came up. Very serious baseball size hail with frozen clusters. Lots of big golf ball dimples everywhere. The insurance company totaled the airplane.. Still flew fine. Took the settlement check and bought my Maule. Never looked back. Wanted to get back to tailwheel flying anyhow.

Cut my teeth in a PA-11 and Clipper. Bought a C-120 in 1969. It was destroyed in a wind storm in 1974. Later bought a 1956 C-182, then the 1966 182. Never liked the way the 1966 flew. The 120 and 1956 spoiled me. Very honest and fun airplanes.

Gene

P.S. The hail destroyed my tent too.

GD

Interesting, my 58 182 has very light hail damage. Fly's great though. I was diggin the Maule's till I sat in DokMow's Maule. I was bummed how tight it was inside for me and a pain to get in and out of I'm not sure if different models have more room than DokMow's

I know some tall people who have trouble in the Maule. The seating position hasn't changed, but later Maules have different seat cushions that help a lot. I am 5' 10" and am very comfortable in my original seats. Sometimes on long trips it would be nice to get my feet farther from the rudder pedals.

Getting in and out requires some gymnastics for sure. After a few times it gets easier and more natural. You have to use a sort of continuous flow to make it natural. Left foot on the step, grab the tube in the windshield, place left knee in seat, raise up and swing left foot under right leg to floor, swing right leg to floor with toe under left leg then to floor then lower yourself into the seat. Do all this in one continuous motion and is pretty simple. Most people are afraid to use the tubing for a hand hold and don't raise up high enough to get the legs over the door jam.

Gene

Update: Vick (as well as some others on this forum) suggested I check out Andover-Aeroflex Aiport over in Andover NJ, where there is an excellent tail-wheel instructor named Damian (the instructor in the DVD Tailwheel 101). It's just an hours drive from my house, so yesterday I figure I'd take a drive over there. On the way, I passed a small turf airport (that was covered in several inches of powdered snow) named Trinka Airport. It was v-e-r-y quiet there as I was driving by. That is until my wife (Robin) jumped up and pointed in the air to the left and said, "Cub!" A second later my eyes were fixed on a beautiful yellow cub silhouetted against a (fairly) clear sky. It had skiis on! I pulled over - grabbed my camera and took a few shots. I always thought it would be really cool to fly a Cub on skiis. I watched the pilot make a few landings in the snow and we took in the beautiful scene for a few minutes. Back in the car we go - off to Andover-Aeroflex which was about only another five minute ride away.





We pull into Andover/Aeroflex. At the end of the runway is this frozen lake and people were ice-fishing. I parked over by the office buildings - got out and scoped around. Several owners were clearing the fresh snow off their planes. No activity on the runway. A few yellow cubs stood out in the snow on the other side. A gentleman walks by and I ask him where the Flight Training school was and he says, You mean Damian? he's over in that 2nd building." I walk over - go inside - and there are these really cool - nostalgic flying pictures all over the walls. A man immediately comes out from the back and introduces himself as Damian -and asks how he can help us. He looked at me and said, "Hey - weren't you the guy over at Trinka taking pictures?" "Yep - that was me" I responded. Turns out the Cub on skiis was Damian out having some fun! I explained that I was there just to check out the airport, hoping to also have an opportunity to meet the person who might soon be my tail-wheel instructor. We talked about my flying experience - and I explained the fact that I've (honestly) never gotten to be completely cross-wind confident in a tricycle gear and wondered how I might be challenged in a tail-wheel. He just smiled and said, "Don't be concerned. We'll take care of that." He is a very personable guy that took his time to answer my questions, even though someone was waiting for him. He also took the time to show us his Stearman that was in the hangar, adding that I would also have the chance to fly her. Sweet! I told him my plan at this point was to wait for early Spring - and as the grass started to show itself I'd be back to start my lessons. He basically said - why wait? We can get started in the Cub on skiis if I'd like, which I may very well do. That's just too cool to pass up! So in the next week or so I plan on calling Damian back and get things kicked off. Can't wait!!!!

After a couple lessons I will then decide of I am going to buy that Chief and perhaps finish up in that.

I have a friend....

...he was 99 last Oct. Still going strong and I have not doubt that he will make 100+. Now Chub is 5' 3" and 180 lbs....a retired corporate pilot(40 years ago!) On father's day when he was 97 I took him for a ride in my Maule. Granted one has to be flexible to get into the thing. In fact my obese.... age 61... Viet Nam vet buddy got stuck trying to climb into my Maule.

As for my friend "Chub" at age 97? Well.....he hopped into that thing like it was a Lincoln Limo. No doubt he could do the same at age 99 and next year when I take him flying on his 100th birthday. It ain't the airplane folks. It is you!!! Of course being over 5' 3" makes it harder.

Fly for fun.

bob