What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Taildragger flying essay

I've just started using a simulator with VR to scrape the corrosion off my taildragger flying "skills" and I ran across this 17 page essay. It's geared to the sim community but it seems to be quite useful for both VR and R taildragger flying.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-uSpZROuEd3V3Jkd2pfa0xRRW8


I have read many tail dragger books and seen many videos. Been flying tail draggers for about 25 years. I saw this video recently and thought he had some, simple, easy to understand, practical comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XQ5OVDaZ10

My two tips is practice side slip landings in cross wind, in any plane. If you are not landing on the upwind wheel and holding the down wind wheel off until you have almost all your aileron into the wind you might need to practice that (even in a tricycle gear plane).

Dancing feet, small quick (early) corrections going back to or towards middle neutral rudder at the slightest swerve. The key here is even pressure on both rudder pedals, rudder neutral, no brakes. You put the correction in and take it out (with pressure on both pedals, just slightly more on one or the other to make correction). You may only take out part of the correction or all of it. You may even go to the other side, but always with neutral as home base, back and forth. If you just stab the rudder and leave it you will over correct. The idea is to stop the swerve first, and then correct. If you get good the plane tracks straight. It becomes second nature, you just do it, stop it from deviating before it starts.
 
Last edited:
Here it is:

?Always keep the little wheel behind the big wheels? - Told to me by my T-6 and P-51 instructor extraordinaire, Mark Murphy.
 
Here it is:

?Always keep the little wheel behind the big wheels? - Told to me by my T-6 and P-51 instructor extraordinaire, Mark Murphy.

A wise man indeed.

I've had a few crosswind landings in a Cessna 180 (and a Cessna 185) where I nearly forgot that little gem. Happily though, it all came back to me in the nick of time. Once, on my second go-around due to a 20+ crosswind component, I elected to simply land a 185 on a taxiway perpendicular to the runway at a little non-controlled airport I was flying into. Ground roll less than 100 feet.

Aircraft undamaged: Check.

TB
 
Back
Top