GeorgePerry Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 Today I finished my Tailwheel endorsement. What a hoot! With thousands of hours flying everything from C-150's to SuperCub on straight floats, to fighters, I can't remember ever having so much fun trying to learn a new skill. I have a new found respect for tailwheel aircraft and their pilots! Proud to be part of the club! 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyNameIsNobody Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 Citabria? I have 13 fun hours in one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyNameIsNobody Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 poor young pilot came into club office yelling F#$%! He had recently soloed and without weight breaked a little hard on turn out and pitched onto nose!!! Bummer. plane down no cert for me. got my Mooney. Bucket list item... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonal Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 Cool, my next round of unusual attitude training will be in the Citabria or American champion I cant remember which. That is if I'm lucky enough from my wife as a B-day present. Back to work 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyNameIsNobody Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 Congrats by the way. For someone of your experience to go get it and have fun doing so is awesome. Well done George. Navy pilots already have big calves to go with their big....so you are good. edit...or should I say Naval Aviators? Were you Marine Corp or Navy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadrach Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 Today I finished my Tailwheel endorsement. What a hoot! With thousands of hours flying everything from C-150's to SuperCub on straight floats, to fighters, I can't remember ever having so much fun trying to learn a new skill. I have a new found respect for tailwheel aircraft and their pilots! Proud to be part of the club! What did you get your endorsement in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danb Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 When's your b-day Bonal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 Today I finished my Tailwheel endorsement. What a hoot! With thousands of hours flying everything from C-150's to SuperCub on straight floats, to fighters, I can't remember ever having so much fun trying to learn a new skill. I have a new found respect for tailwheel aircraft and their pilots! Proud to be part of the club! George, Is it an endorsement to your licence or a check on type? In Canada it's not an endorsement. Clarence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadrach Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 It's just a sign off, but we still refer to it as an endorsement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 George, Is it an endorsement to your licence or a check on type? In Canada it's not an endorsement. Clarence Like my Complex and High Performance endorsements, they exist on a page at the back of my logbook, which has since become Logbook #1. It lives at home now; Logbook #2 is sometimes at home, or in the truck, the hangar or sometimes even in the plane. Nothing on my license, or even in FAA records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyDave Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Congrats George! I went partners in a tailwheel AeroTrek a few months ago. It's a different kind of landing and ground handling, eh? The AeroTrek is an especially light plane and I find 3-point landings difficult in it. I do mostly wheel landings but I'm practicing the 3-point'ers. This thing is a hoot! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgePerry Posted August 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Thanks for all the kind words! I did in on a friend / coworker's RV-6. He's a great instructor with loads of tailwheel time. Endorsement was a simple sign off in my logbook. Lastly Navy all the way, although I do have a couple of close friends who are Marine Pilots. Dave I was checking out the AeroTek at Sun and Fun. It looks like a lot of fun! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N33GG Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Congrats George! You now know this, but for everybody else: Once you fly taildraggers, you become a better pilot in any aircraft. I think your feet get a new education and they continue to be smarter no matter what you are flying. Your feet perform better without even thinking about it. It's hard to explain, and lots of pilots think they have already smart feet, but there is nothing like flying a tail plane to get you brain to feet and feet to brain connection straightened out. When I fly with other pilots in tricycle gear, I can immediately tell if they have been flying taildraggers. No question, and no exceptions. I spent last weekend with my former business partner. He has been a private pilot flying tricycle gear planes for decades. For the past twenty years he has been flying a Piper Saratoga. A while back he purchased a Stearman ( a really nice aircraft and his has been completely refurbished like factory new) and has now mastered the tail wheel. I gave him a flight review in the Saratoga, and the difference in his stick and rudder skills was incredible. I highly recommend all pilots to go get some tail training. And yes, I got to fly the Stearman. Nice! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVIDWH Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Assume you have been to school concerning the braking on that top heavy colossus. Spooked me in a nano-second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Zuffoletto Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 I got my endorsement two years ago and wish I would have done it decades ago... I was definitely missing out on a lot of fun! I enjoy doing touch-and-goes in my RV-8 just as much as I enjoy taking long trips in my Mooney. And yes, it did improve my Mooney landings as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneymite Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 A gentle reminder that not too many years ago, virtually all primary trainers were "conventional gear". There was no such thing as a tail wheel endorsement since anyone who could fly could fly either a nose, or tail dragger. ( You don’t need a tailwheel endorsement if you’ve already logged pilot-in-command (PIC) time in a tailwheel airplane prior to April 15, 1991) It seems that a mystique has built up around the conventional gear. (Ooooooo, a taildragger!) In my opinion, there is no reason to be apprehensive, or reticent to go fly such. It is "different", but it isn't difficult. A tail-dragger isn't "more difficult", but the manufacturers keep making tricycle easier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Gus, if one is easier than the other, then also one is more difficult than the other. Tail wheel planes look fun, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneymite Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Gus, if one is easier than the other, then also one is more difficult than the other. Tail wheel planes look fun, too. Or, they're both easy.... :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N33GG Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 One is a lot more forgiving than the other...period. It's a lot harder to ground loop a trike. And not all taildraggers are equal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowflyin Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Welcome to the club! 900+ hours without a training wheel prior to my Mooney and I still miss it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garytex Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 N6719N is correct about flying skills attained in tailwheel aircraft. They're not that tough, but you have to full stall it from an inch above the ground pointing straight down the runway and not drifting. Once acquired that's a skill that will save wear and tear on any airplane and teaches you to land precisely. Additionally it teaches speed and energy control in the approach and landing which are really important to avoid porpoising in our Mooneys. I'm absolutely certain that learning to fly in a tailwheel has helped me in my Mooney. Gary 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ftlausa Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Simply put, tail wheels make landings fun and challenging at the same time. The "final exam" for my tail wheel endorsement was to switch back and forth from one main gear to the other down the runway (wheel landing, of course). You really learn the art of the flare and to manage energy in ground effect in tail draggers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgePerry Posted August 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 You can conduct flight training in an experimental, just not for compensation or hire. My instructor didn't charge me anything as we are friends. I'm not sure if sharing a six pack at the hanger after the last flight was complete counts? http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgFar.nsf/FARSBySectLookup/91.319 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N33GG Posted August 6, 2015 Report Share Posted August 6, 2015 If sharing a six pack at the hanger becomes considered legal compensation, I am in BIG trouble! Can you imagine all the 1099's we would all have to file? That might overload and end the IRS right there...hmmmmmmm Lightbulb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy95W Posted August 7, 2015 Report Share Posted August 7, 2015 If you paid your accountant in beer to deal with all those 1099's, you could double that. And so on, and so on, and... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.