Happy Thanksgiving;

I start my tail draggin' lessons on Saturday morning.

Low time SEL and SES with all of my time a 172 (What is a rudder?) We will be using a Super Cub.

As you are sitting around digesting your turkey dinner, I am open to any suggestions, pointers, or other highlights that you deem appropriate?

Thanks,

Only suggestion I can make is to make sure you have about $75K available to buy one for yourself if you haven't already 'cause you'll need one after flying it.

gb

A Super Cub is the worst drug around.
GJ

I did my tailwheel endorsement in a PA-18 and it was a great airplane. We spun it quite a bit too

I will never acquire a taste for heel brakes though.

It's damned addictive. I did my endorsement in a Super Cub. It didn't take long to never fly a nosedragger again..so far. I can't afford a Super Cub so I bought a Stinson, but I probably dream about Super Cubs at least once daily. Damn, now I want one again. So much for being retired, time to get a job so I can go buy one!

As for the training, I was a 172 only guy too. I was lucky to have a great CFI that taught me about my feet and rudders in the 172 since he knew I loved taildraggers. When I started the training it seemed easy. Then halfway through it was like a brick wall hit me and I felt like I was regressing. Again, a good instructor pulled me out of that funk after some fun flying and I was able to finish up and be hooked on them ever since. Good luck!

They're bloody addictive alright, I did all my training with a training wheel and then did the endorsement in a Citabria ,which isn't really fair as they're such a lovely forgiving dragger, then put some time in a mate c185 ,now we're talkin fun (with sweaty palms)and just recently I've been tooling around in another mates RV6, (I'm building one for myself), apart from a Kitfox type that is my own toy I am constantly daydreaming about either a c185 or a pa20 ,so many airplanes ,so little money ,

Yep, once you fly one you will always want one. By the way, what are toe brakes????

Also the Super cub has got to be one of the easiest tail draggers to learn to fly, you should not have any problems.

Brian.

Have fun with it. I did my tailwheel checkout in a Super Cub also and it was a blast. Definitely adds a fun dimension to flying.

I learned to fly in a J-3 Cub and I have a few hours in a Super Cub. I'm sure you're gonna love it, have fun!

When you say low time just how much low time? Sometimes being a lowtime nose wheel pilot is a good thing. You haven't built up enough bad habits at that point. I had a student pilot get his private at 36 hrs and transitioned shorty after into a RV-8 taildragger. Piece of cake. He's my hangar partner now and lets me fly it from time to time Good luck with your training.

I think it's pretty widely forgotten (or in the case of my generation, never understood to begin with) that not too too long ago tailwheel was what you learned in because it was the standard (conventional). So it's not truly that difficult to get the hang of, only relative to what a tri-gear will let you get away with. As bushwagon astutely points out, the less time someone has spent learning to not be concerned with little things like crab and drift the easier a time they'll have learning to handle conventional gear.

Start in calm conditions. Work on taxi using the throttle to get the tail to turn. Use some power to keep control over the tail. Work to avoid the brakes unless you must. Try flying down the runway or any long flat surface just holding the plane a couple inches off the ground. Touch the tail wheel first when you can-just to get the landing attitude feel. Use plenty of throttle bursts and pitch changes to keep slow-like a hover. There's plenty to work on forever. Happy Thanksgiving!

Get a Maule, the more hp the better!

Have a tail dragger that will go like hell!

What's an endorsement? I grandfathered before those were mandatory.. Fist taildragger was a PA-11, then flew a PA-14 Clipper from Colorado to Ohio for a friend. Started instructing in a C-120 and when the owners lost interest, I bought it from them for $1500.00 and flew for 4 years till it was damaged in a windstorm and sold for $1200.00. Been flying the Maule for 16 years and really enjoy it.

When landing, do not take your eye off the center on the runway and your siting line over the cowling. Be ready with RUDDER at the least deviation. That has to be done without thinking and will come with more experience.

Remember what we all say " Fly 'em till you tie 'em". They are most likely to bite you when you have landed and relaxed your attention.

Gene

Learn to use your feet to feel for the position of the tail wheel. If you wait until the tail wheel moves then its too late!

Learn to taxi it around on the ground and learn to use rudder and brakes together. Take it out an play with it!

I learned in a PA 20, just about as short coupled as any thing you can imagine. I still feel the embaressment of having a waitress in Talkeetna walk over to our table and ask ,out loud, if I was the guy that has just ground looped out at the airport!

I got better at it.and still love the tail dragger.

I hope nobody fly's like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vH2yKfD ... re=related amazing flight skills,,now that's real tail drag-gin time even in an airshow or not,,,

I learned how to fly in a Champ.
Tailwheel flying is SOO much more rewarding and versatile then trike (or least for me).

You'll find that a 2pt landing in a tailwheel is alot like landing on floats.

Have fun and fly her all the way to the hangar!

Double D:

If you haven't read Sparky Imeson's "Taildragger Tactics", you probably should.

I have had that book for a lot of years and every few years I drag it out and read it again. It is not only a good read on Taildraggers but also has a lot of great backcountry suggestions and info. For instance, one of Sparky's rules of thumb is if you haven't reached 70% of takeoff speed half way down the runway, abort, etc. It is a treasure trove of good advice.

Enjoy the cub man. Some of my fondest flying memories are of hunting coyotes on cold Nebraska winter mornings from the backseat of a cub. The guy I used to fly with was an ex-spray pilot and it took me several passes to learn to take my eyes off the sagebrush we were clipping with the tundra tires and watch the coyotes.

Regards, Larry

I decided to become a taildragger pilot about 2 years after getting my ticket, with about 300 hours of C150 time under my belt. Bought a 170,got checked out & solo'd in it, and now 2,000 hours &13 years later I wouldn't own anything but a taildragger.
I'm still working on becoming a real taildragger pilot, but I think I'm getting pretty close now. Maybe by this time next year.....

After no tail dragger time and about 75 total hrs of C150 and PA140 time I took my step dad up on an offer to take his PA 18 125 hp up for a joyride with college buddy of mine back in 1970. Crosswind takeoff on the East/West county gravel went pretty good but I also knew I would be out numbered on landing so I landed back at the old farm where the road was North/South. After a little fish tailing and sliding of the brakes with a shower of gravel slinging around I called it a successful landing and phoned the step dad to come and get his plane. That was enough training for one day, a plane can only adjust to a new pilot about so fast. My college buddy rode with me again less than a year later so obviously he had forgotten already.
You should be just fine, you said you were taking an instructor right?