I'd think that adding power, if that's an option, would "pull from the nose" and possibly yank the center of mass back behind the CG?
I do remember that pretty much every Pacer pilot I flew with had ground looped at least once which kept me pretty focused on landing straight,
Figs
Anyone remember Sean Tucker or Kyle Franklin making 90 degree turns taxiing with the tail in the air??
This is great when you have four wheels that are all locked pointing in one direction. Unfortunately our tailwheels (or nosewheels) are not, so you have two wheels that will happily roll when aligned with the direction of travel again, but a third that will continue in whatever direction it was going as it's castering. It'll be worse if the nose/tailwheel only turns a certain distance and then hits a stop... Once on the stop it's now locked at an angle to the mains and will want to turn.I've done a few spins on four wheels. I can't say what they teach at the schools, but what seems to work for a spin from a straight line swerve is de-clutch, center the wheel, and stay off the brakes. A high percentage handled this way go either 180 or 360 and resume the original trajectory as soon as the tires stop sliding and start rolling again. It's Newton's first law.
I'd modify this by saying you would want to try braking to *stop* the turn once you've rotated, for the same reasons as above. On a tailwheel you're right that once it's turned you've got a tricycle gear plane which should be inherently stable, but there's nothing there to stop the rotation that's brought it to that point. It'll overshoot and then (hopefully) return to center, possibly overshooting a few times as it settles.I'd fight a groundloop with both rudder and brake until it was beyond saving, after which I'd just center everything, stay off the brakes, and let it go around. The spin physics are the same as the car, and given 180 rotation, it's now a tricycle gear with mass center ahead of the mains. It would track backwards better if the tailwheel wasn't in full swivel, but nothing can be done about it.
Agreed. I was saved by the large runway and taxiway I was operating on... on a smaller field I would definitely have been into the grass before I stopped moving.I'm pretty sure what we don't want is an extended sideways slide, in particular sideways off the runway into a soft surface.
I take it you never flew a conventional gear plane (tailwheel)? And you expect to have an answer to a complex question? I suggest you read some books and get training (see link below).I see tons of info out there on how to avoid a ground loop, and of course avoiding it altogether is always best. But in the event you do go for a ride, what's the best thing to do? Let the controls go? Both brakes? Inside or Outside brake?