To Tailwheel or not to Tailwheel

[Bavafa]

Originally Posted by Taltruda

I hear Rockets are prone to tip because the long nose and heavy engine. .other than that, I don't think regular RVs are prone to nose over. .have you seen that recently posted video where the nose gear breaks off? I haven't seen the nose gear on the 14 in person, but I cringe whenever I see an "A" model RV. They are supposed to be tailwheel! Now if only we could get Van to offer a tailwheel 10!

The nose gear design of a 14A is the same as the nose gear of a 10, if you have seen a 10, then you have seen the nose gear of a 14

[sailvi767]

Harmon Rockets are prone to tipover. F1 Rockets have a different gear geometry and it?s a non issue.
G

[BCP Boys]

Scott,
There are some good points made here as outlined by Mehrdad. This subject is like one of those religious discussions and you are never going to get a unbiased answer. It truly is a personal decision. In my opinion, it has nothing to do with pilot capability. I've seen some great pilots in formation teams that have incredible stick and rudder skills who fly nose wheel RVs and I respect their skill level. Of course they can learn to fly tail draggers, they just choose not to fly them based on personal preferences. It's like asking someone why they rather drive a 911 than a Corvette. Well you're going to get about a million reasons and most of those reasons are personal preference or beliefs.

From my experience, a tail dragger of any kind requires constant attention on the ground. There is a saying that you learn when you first become a tail wheel pilot, " you fly a tail dragger until you put it up in the hangar "..... you will adhere to this rule until you stop flying tail draggers. When I flew my RV-10 I can honestly say that I was more relaxed during taxi, take off and touch down. However, I believe that the stick and rudder experience that I had flying numerous tail draggers gave me more confidence and skills to be able to be relaxed while controlling a nose wheel during those phases of flight. I fly a -7, and a modified SuperCub on a daily basis and just sold my -10. Make no mistake, the minute I "relax" on the ground with the -7 or the SuperCub I will get myself in trouble.

So base your decision on what you desire. If you look at a tail dragger and think to yourself, "man that is cool" then learn to fly one and you will never want to go back to flying a nose wheel (<-- Again, personal preference).

Originally Posted by Bavafa

So you got some subjective opinion, here is the objective one


Nose wheel
Pros:
- Cheaper insurance
- Easier/safer to handle during x-wind landing
- Better visibility during taxing (safer)
- No concern about nose wheel like it is with 6/7/8/9 (entirely different nose wheel

Cons:
- Heavier by around 15-20 lb
- slower by around 2 or 3knots

P.S. the chance of nose over with hard breaking exist for the tail dragger not the nose dragger. A friend of mine did just that during taxing and had to do a tear down/new prop with his rocket.

[M McGraw]

Personally I love my 14, but I fly a taildragger by choice. Most people would say a taildragger is better for unimproved strips; however, the 14 vs 14A is not the same as the 7 vs 7A or 6 vs 6A.

The 14A main gear and nosegear are a significant departure from previous models. Although I love my 14, I suspect the 14A is a stronger design for grass strips because of the main gear. The nose gear is also an improved design.

Basically, build what you want to fly.

[ALagonia]

I have owned many airplanes from Bonanza, Baron, C-421, King Airs, MU-2, Lear, L-39 and quite a few more. They all had nose wheels. I decided on an RV9 to learn new skills and have fun doing it. I had some, very little, tailwheel time many many years ago. I am happy with my decision. The taildragger is definitely more challenging but isn?t the challenge part of the fun?
I have landed my 9 in a 30 knot direct gusting crosswind. And it wasn?t as difficult as I thought it might be. I have also, on one occasion, got lax and hit the brakes a tad too aggressively and felt the tailwheel come off the ground. Lesson learned there.
It is without doubt a personal decision, tailwheel or trike. For me, with my wife?s encouragement, the taildragger was and still is the right decision. And they look so cool as well.

[506DC]

Don't forget the resale value, you will get more money for an A model because the demand is greater. Your spouse may be more comfortable flying this model also because there is not to many white scarf spouses. Spouses like to see where they are going, especially on the ground.

[jeffw@sc47]

In 2014 I took a intro flight in Vans' 9A at Oshkosh then on the edge between a 7 and a 14, both tail draggers; more than half of my total time since starting in '65 is tail wheel time.

The 9A intro pilot was a 7 builder and told me that he was currently changing his 7 to a 7A and emphasized the better over-the-nose view that the 9A had.

I think that the 14 looks better both sitting on the ground and in the air - more airplane-like; I went with the 14A because it might be easier to find a buyer when I have to sell it, and the 14 to 14A top speed is inconsequential - you won't be running it at top cruise very often or at all ever.

A negative is that the insurance will likely be higher in a tail dragger vs. for a nose dragger.

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by swordtail

The cost of insurance is one thing. Why pay more than you need to.

First off, build the plane you want, not the plane others want you to build. The rest will sort itself out.

It has been my experience that initially, insurance for having the little wheel in back is more than the same aircraft with a nosewheel, but only for the first 100 hours or so. Then it equals out. So insurance shouldn't be part of the equation.

As others have said, get some tailwheel time and see what you think. The truth is, it takes about 10 hours of instruction to get the endorsement. (Some more, some less.) At about four hours of training you will be convinced you can't land the bloody thing then it will just "click" and you will spend the rest of the time refining your skills.

It will take a little while, say 100 hours in type, until you are really comfortable and do not fear the crosswind but that is true regardless of the location of the little wheel. BTW, if you are like most of us, that 100 hours will pass in less than a year, a year of fun flying!

(Like Angelo, I too have landed in extremely strong crosswinds, up to 32 knots, and revel in the challenge.)

Good luck with your choice.

[DanH]

I don't recall ever owning a nosewheel. That said, the lucky among us get older, and slower. Although I find the tailwheel 14 to be a pussycat, and I adore Marvin's "big wheel" 14, I would probably opt for the 14A were I to build another RV. It's an attractive, low stress ride with very good resale.

Meanwhile, over in the other seat, I suspect the level attitude would make cabin access a whole lot easier for ladies of a certain age.

[gereed75]

Jeff, Yes the 2-3 knots is inconsequential and I personally way prefer the tail drager but....I run my airplane WOT in cross country cruise about 95% of the time. I suspect many others do the same.