Thorp training

[pierre smith]

Hi guys,
A friend of mine found a 180 HP Thorp for a real bargain. The problem is that he doesn't have any tailwheel time and I volunteered to teach him. He's also still a student with around 200 hours and flies his Zenith CH 100 often.

Another ex-Thorp owner said that they land pretty fast but this one has the thicker Sunderland wings.

I'd like some input from any of you guys with T-18 experience....gotchas, etc.

Thanks in advance,

[N733JJ]

I flew a S-18 as part of my preparation to fly my RV-8. The plane is owned by Joe Gauthier; Flight Instructor, Tech Counselor, Flight Advisor, ABDAR, EAA Homebuilt Council.... and basically an all around great guy who spends every waking hour (and then some) in the interest of keeping keeping us all alive.

Anyway, Joe told me about as much about his Thorpe as I knew about my RV. I then flew it as if it was the first flight in my plane, a full blown dress rehersal and added in a little extra airwork and landings. I don't remember many specifics but it was a great primer for my first flight and I think it would work the other way around as well.

Joe has many hours in his Thorpe, a bunch of RV time (including a few first flights). I know Joe would be more than willing to help out in anyway he can, including flying his plane if you can get anywhere near his CT base.
(860) 635-4058
N22607@aol.com

Scott A. Jordan
N733JJ
620 hours
KPOU

[Mel]

The RV is a pussy cat on the ground. The T-18 is not. It can be a real handfull for a novice tail wheel pilot. Be sure your friend gets "in type" training in the Thorp. It's not the airfoil, it's the short coupled gear and small rudder.

[RV8N]

Originally Posted by pierre smith

The problem is that he doesn't have any tailwheel time and I volunteered to teach him. He's also still a student with around 200 hours and flies his Zenith CH 100 often.

Uh... 200 hours and still a student?

Maybe he should stay away from higher performance tailwheel aircraft. I'm not trying to be mean, just realistic.

As an example, in another life I used to be a skydiving jumpmaster (static line and AFF) and tandem master. Every once in a while we would get students that had tons of desire but absolutely couldn't figure out how to do things. In the name of safety, we occasionally had to suggest that they try some other sport (that wasn't so inherently dangerous).

I certainly don't know your friend, its just a thought.

Karl

[BobMoe]

First, the T18 is plans built. All are different. The original T18 had no flaps or canopy. Both were added. The original wing had a bad habit of pitching over at slow speed and 40 degree flaps. A stall strip was added and max flap was set to 30 degree. Lu Suderland developed the new airfoil to fix this. The max flap is still 30 degrees so your landing speed will be higher. All of this is well documented on the Yahoo Groups "Thorplist". Here is an excerpt by Tom.
I would take the time to read the Thorplist.
Short Field Landing

Having been an RV owner,
you might have read one of Van's articles on "how to". The one
referred to is about going to altitude (I chose 6,000 feet) which
suits your comfort level for slow speed, stalls, and spins. Maybe
have a T-18 guy (or instructor) with you initially.

Go through the regimen of slow flight with varying degrees of flap
settings. I found the 62 mph with 10 degrees of flap perfectly
controllable. Then on down, it was 58 with 20 degrees, and 56 with 30
degrees. At 55 mph, it was anchor time up front and straight down!
This due to the high angle of attack and the flaps blocking out the
air flow to the push down gizmo (called a stabilator).

My belief is that many T-18 owners land at a higher speed than
necessary. This is due to not knowing their airplane and not doing
the slow flight practice.

Tom Worth - Tacoma, WA

There is a list of recommened AD's (fixes) on the www.t18.net site you should check before purchase. There are several T18's in the GA area. David Taylor in Warner Robins (SP) come to mind. www.frappr.com/t18s

Good luck
Bob MO

[hngrflyr]

A friend on mine bought a T-18 last April. He just strapped it on and flew it, but he has 15000 hours. I've flown it a little and made a few landings in it. The touch down speed seems to be about 75 mph. The airplane is very quick on the ground. I've been flying tailwheel airplanes for 50 years. You must be at home and on the job in the T-18. I fly the landing approach at 100 mph with 85 mph or so across the fence. The T-18 sits on the ground in a fairly flat attitude. If you try to land slower you will drag the tailwheel while the mains are nearly a foot above the ground.

It's a delight to fly, but not a novice pilots airplane. The cabin width is much tighter than my RV-6.

[vic syracuse]

Years ago I test flew a beautifully -built T-18, and flew off the 40 hours. As noted in earlier posts here, the T-18 is MUCH different than the RV series, especially in the landing phase. It is not a docile airplane on the ground, but it is a fun one to fly. It can be difficult for those with little tailwheel time. The person who built this one took 15 years to build it, and never was able to solo it (very little tailwheel time). He eventually parted it out, which was really sad. That said, given the hours of the person mentioned in the beginning of this thread, I would encourage a different choice of airplane, or finding a competent instructor in type.

Vic