Today my world officially changed!

Purchased Joe Stancil's 53, 180 with every mod you can think of (including the Hydraulic Skis') the other day and have spent the past couple re-learning how to land an airplane. Today I received my endorsement! Pretty fired up to say the least! What a great experience. I feel like a new pilot again.

Sort of funny..had lowrider in the right seat today flying home as he was my first official passenger in the dragger. Upon returning to Truckee, I must have listened to ATIS every 2 minutes to see if the 5 knt wind had changed direction. Lowrider was tightening his seat belt each time as well...Ended up bouncing all the way the down runway for several hundred feet as it was my worst landing of the day. Could not make up my mind as to whether I should do a 3 point or wheel landing. I think I did both at some point and ended it with the wheel landing...I think I can log that one alone as 3 touch and goes...

Anyhow, as mentioned Stoked beyond belief and going through the roof with excitement and my new plane. I cannot wait to be able to really fly the thing...I can hear OB one saying "patience grasshoppa"...

The 88" prop is going to make all those noise complainers here in Truckee love me at 630 am!!!

My wife says I am obsessed with this forum and flying (she is correct). I leave in the am and come home in the afternoon and scour this site and the skywagon site for info.

My fridge in the hanger is full of cold frosty treats and open to anyone who drops in.

Kevin

Too cool

Congrats on the new rating and new plane, it will be a lot of fun.

Got a little over 500 hours on my TW 172, all i can tell you is it's never been boring . Just 2-hopped one yesterday landing at home in front of the Bering air pilot. No one is ever around when you grease one. then again, maybe thats because it never happens

Chris

Congrats!! Just don't get complacent...you'll hit a learning plateau at some point and just when you think...Ya I got this taildragger thing down you'll have a landing roll out that will scare the living crap out of you and keep you on your toes for a while again. My airplane is always a handful with it's narrow gear, tundra tires, and tiny rudder. I'd like to find a way to video my feet sometime so I can show it to some of my big mouth 172 driver buddies what using your feet is all about...

That's great. Have fun with that new plane & keep the rein's tight until it's parked careful with those 2 1/2 point landings, they can turn bad in a hurry. I went into an airport about a month ago for a flying, 15 kt left X-wind & lost most of my left break strength just starting my rollout. Could have ended badly but never left pavement & only a bruised ego infront of the crowd

Safe flights !

Well done. Make sure you bring a towel to wipe your hands on before most landings . I just went from floats to wheels this past Wednesday, sigh. Did a couple of touch and goes on the grass strip where the switch over takes place and then returned to my friend's narrow and tree semi lined grass strip where I park unless snow is forecast. I managed to plop it down safely if firmly and happily tied her down. As most have said, never relax and practice lots!!!! At times you will swear you are a student pilot again. AND, when a greaser arrives you hope there is somebody around that can appreciate this rare occurence. Most trike guys, me formerly included, expected a smooth landing as normal, that is no longer the case. Have fun. FF

Congrats you can't beat a Skywagon. I'm a bit obsessed too. I look forward to seeing her someday.

-Brad

Very nice, Kevin.

The plane looks like a sweetheart. Hope she treats you well!

Still hoping there is a 180 in my future sometime soon.......Getting the cash reserve built up close to Super Stinson level, will take a while longer to get to 180 land and I am not sure how much longer I can hold out!

Flynengr

Good on ya! I just got my tw endorsement yesterday in my new to me Pacer, it's just a barrel of fun isn't it?!
OE

Good job AK!

Yeah STC!

Having a great time. I think I have now close to 50 landings in the machine. Man she is fun! Not certain whether I like the 3 point or wheel landing better. Thinking the wheel landing but....Even had a bit of wind this am. the one wheelers are a gas!

Cannot wait to get to the hanger. Going back this afternoon. had to come home and let me hands dry out..

This is what I feel like I look like coming in on final....

50 landings! You are getting after it.
One of the neat things for me is actually having to slow down before interring the pattern

Almost 50....not quite but flying as much as possible.

As my wife says, "so how much are you going to spend today"...and then she says "I cant wait until this new obsession is over"...Little does she know....the plane is new but not the obsession.

I too find my downwind lengthened creating a nice LONG final for setup. I really love the manual flaps!

I can empathize with your enthusiasm. You have probably been made aware of ground loops with 3 point landings but just to reinforce remember opposite break if she pulls to a left or right angle going off the runway. The opposite break tapping will straighten you out. Always be prepared to employ this corrective action breaking upon landing.
I wouldn't get hung up on 3 point vs wheel landing this early. Although it is a plus to be able to do both. I found that zero flaps @ 80mph and some forward trim works well on a Maule. You need to find what works for a Cessna but wheel landings at this speed tend to need some runway.
Good luck and don't rush the process.
Hint: Buy the wife a log book and track her co-pilot hours It helped my wife understand the possession syndrome

I wouldn't get hung up on 3 point vs wheel landing this early. Although it is a plus to be able to do both. I found that zero flaps @ 80mph and some forward trim works well

Kevin,

If you start wheel landing that C180 at 80 MPH, I'll come up there and smack you myself...

Gump

Just like an old desert dweller 'I give you the back of my hand" before I share my years of experience in a Cessna! What speed 70, 60 , ???? Well kevin I did say you will have to figure out what is right for a Cessna. I just thought someone would share the Cessna speed if I prompted them. Maybe the way to get Gump to do it is he combines an Alaskan yarn in the mix

Well, that's about 25-30 MPH TOO fast, and if you hit the ground at that speed with even a tiny bit too much sink rate, you'll bounce to the moon with that spring gear. I can't think of a single reason why I'd want to be landing that fast.

Use the same speed/flaps for wheel as three-point work. The airplane couldn't care less what touches first. One, two, or all three wheels. Airspeed control is critical, but you want it at the bottom end, not over the top. All the extra speed does is eat up runway and increase the chances of control loss.

Gump

And, Don't forget aileron INTO the wind after touch down, gradually increasing all the way to the stop in a crosswind. The adverse yaw REALLY helps keep the airplane straight on the runway.

Most of all, if you haven't already, find an experienced C-180 instructor and pay them what they're worth for several hours of instruction.

MTV

As MTV says ' EXPERIENCED' instructor. Experienced in instructing in a Cessna 180/185. With duster background would be good.
AND pay for hull coverage (full) the first year, then fly the heck out of it that first year.
You should be able to judge whether you need it or not after that.....

lc

Thanks gang!

Doing both type of landings around 55-60 across the threshold and then not really paying attention the speed and more feel. Seems like the same speed however on both. Working with 20 degrees flaps and 40. Like the 20 degrees much better on the wheel landings and the 40 with the 3 pointers. Practicing 40 degrees on wheels a few times but takes a ton of forward pressure. Really liking the feel of keeping the tail up until you stop.

As for the 3 pointers, there a completely different deal with the slight nose high attitude until they touch and then stopping just after. Wheel landings are fun holding it up until you come to almost a complete stop. Both however seem to be at the same speed around 55 or so. I may be a bit faster now on the wheel landings but if so, its not much. I am always trying to make it as short as possible.

Cross winds seem as though you want to use a wheel landing with minimum flaps and use aileron deflection into the wind as you would any other plane? Seems correct. The 3 pointer in a cross wind seems spooky to me but just need time to figure it out.

Have a great guy from Beckworth I have been flying with, Herb Bishop. He's a great pilot with a lot of experience and teaches tail wheel. If splashpilot would ever quit fighting fires, I am pretty anxious to fly with him!

Got the full hull coverage for about $1800 for 80K.

Gumper, lets go flying! Just say when....Can be in Minden in 15 minutes or so.

Looks like our weather is shutting down after tomorrow for a few days.

Will let you guys know how tomorrow morning goes...

The BEST way to perform a wheel landing is as Gump suggests, to fly the airplane in at ALMOST the same speed and pitch attitude just prior to touch as in a three point. As the mainwheels touch, the tailwheel ideally should be about an inch or two off the ground (although there's no need to obsess about this-just keep the tail fairly low at first, then refine), and at the touch, roll the airplane up onto its mains. This is referred to as a "tail low wheel landing" and it works great in all sorts of environments. You should still retain comfort and competency in three point landings, however.

At this stage of your "development", tell yourself on short, short final "this is a WHEEL landing" or "this is a THREE POINT landing", because anything in between (as in a tail low wheel landing where you don't get the tail UP right after the touch) can result in some REALLY exciting "diversions", or is that "excursions". In that configuration, you'll have NO steering: The tailwheel is off the ground, and the rudder is down low, buried in turbulent airflow coming off the fuselage, flaps and wings. Any little gust of wind from the side will send you on a journey you don't want to experience.

I prefer 30 degrees of flap for most wheel landings in Cessnas. Plenty of drag, and still a lot of lift. The one exception may be the Robertson equipped airplanes in gusty winds, since the 30 flap position provides the maximum aileron deflection in those airplanes. 30 works good on wheel landings, since the drag isn't so dramatic as with 40, so takes a bit less throttle jockeying. 20 flap won't get you the maximum benefit of those big flaps for short field work.

Finally, remember that you'll never get hurt in one of these planes till you touch the ground (that includes, by the way, if a wing were to come off in flight ) and the key to survival is touching the ground as gently and as slow as is practicable. A tail low wheel landing MAY offer the best of all worlds in this regard.

A REALLY fast wheel landing simply puts you at risk of an excursion for longer, as you try to decelerate from the touchdown.

Keep working with those good instructors for a while till you feel pretty good in the plane, and keep asking questions.

MTV