Tailwheel Envy

[mark manda]

When I bought my Cessna 140 and was getting a check ride from the owner-- I asked "is this about right or too fast?" while taxiing.

He said something like, "I'm from the old school, anything faster than a fast walk is too fast..." might apply that on non paved surfaces.

[Jamie]

Originally Posted by BJohnson

None of this helped that poor fellow whose nosewheel collapsed while taxing on a rough field, nor an emergency off airport landing situation.

I've posted this before, but I'll post it again for the sake of comparison.

How's this for a rough landing?

I was riding with a friend of mine in his -6A, flying into the newly cleared/leveled grass strip of another friend of ours. You can see by the video that he demonstrates proper technique for a soft-field landing. Look closely at the ground when the aircraft stops. You can see that this isn't one of the aforementioned nice turf strips. Since then his grass as grown in and he's repacked it so it's a bit nicer.

I wouldn't recommend anyone attempt a landing like this...but it goes to show you that proper pilot technique is essential to landing the RV (tailwheel or nosewheel) on a rough strip.

[penguin]

I have more tailwheel time than nosewheel, despite flying my RV-6A for 200 hours. When I was RV shopping I wanted a -6, but a 6A came up at the right price so I bought it. No regrets with that decision. There are many RVs for sale, not many met my requirements. I have had no problems with the nosewheel. I'm with Mel, the nosewheel comes off early in the TO roll, and stays in the air as long as possible on landing - its not a commercial airplane, don't treat it like one. On grass I taxi slowly. My wife much prefers a nosewheel.

I much prefer a tailwheel. I fly for fun and enjoyment, and the challenge of doing something well. A tailwheel requires just a little more skill to do everything well - said another way, it is slightly less forgiving. Right now I am looking for ways to put some of the challenge back into flying. I think a tailwheel is one way to do some of that.

I also think a tailwheel is easier to build, easier to maintain and allows the engine to run cooler. I only have a few hours in a tailwheel RV so cannot really comment on what a -6 is like, maybe its a case of the grass is always greener on the otherside? Having said all of that, an RV could never be described as a difficult or challenging tailwheel aircraft (and I've flown many different tailwheel types).

Pete

[Bill Dicus]

Flying our old Piper Lance the nosewheel seems great. Flying my Pitts S-2A the tailwheel is even better. That's why I'm building an RV-8! Also won't have to worry about new prop and engine overhaul after nose wheel failure. Bill

[gmcjetpilot]

Good news is the pilot and passenger are fine; the plane did not flip and looks repairable.

http://homepage.mac.com/mikec6/PhotoAlbum1.html

The pilot was nice enough to post this on the RV-7/7A Yahoo group which I will repeat.
For the record I know we are all so sorry for his incident and thankful for their safety and passing on this input and experience.

It was my aircraft N311WT and I was the Pilot In Command. I was
taxing for departure on the grass runway at Beaumont Hotel, Kansas.

Here are the details:

The engine is the Eggenfellner 2.5 Subaru with supercharger.
The baggage compartment had 80# of luggage.
I weigh 215# and my wife weighs 160#.
There was a total of 13 gallons of fuel in the tanks.
The nose was so light that I had to be careful getting in so that the tail didn't go down.
I had just looked at the GPS to check the taxi speed and it was 4 knots.
We didn't strike a hole but the ground was washboard.

If you look at the photos, you will see that the nose gear not only folded under but twisted, causing the right wing to momentarily dip. You will also notice that the cowling and spinner were not struck which suggest a low speed.

The weight of my aircraft is 1199 lbs.

I make all of my landings as though it is a soft field (nose up
landing on the mains then holding the nose off as long as possible).
Also, I make all of my takeoffs as though soft field (nose slightly
off as soon as possible). Walter (Mike) Casey

So this was not a case of pilot landing error, just taxing. Please no rage and heated debate, it is what it is. What I get is be careful and stuff happens we can't always control or anticipate.

Regards George

[RVbySDI]

The engine is the Eggenfellner 2.5 Subaru with supercharger.
The baggage compartment had 80# of luggage.
I weigh 215# and my wife weighs 160#.
There was a total of 13 gallons of fuel in the tanks.

It would be very interesting to know how much the FWF installation of the Eggenfellner 2.5 Subaru weight was and how much weight the nose gear was supporting when this accident happened.

Steve
RVBYSDI

[Jamie]

Originally Posted by Bill Dicus

Flying our old Piper Lance the nosewheel seems great. Flying my Pitts S-2A the tailwheel is even better. That's why I'm building an RV-8! Also won't have to worry about new prop and engine overhaul after nose wheel failure. Bill

No, you just need to worry about it when you get a nice tailwind gust during taxi ops a la the beautiful RV-8 at Sun-n-Fun this year. I saw it happen. He hit the brakes (not too hard either) to stop and at that very moment he got a nice gust that took the plane almost vertical on the spinner. The tail hit the ground so hard that it wrinkled the aft bottom skins.

Now, this is certainly anectodal, but you have to admit that there have been many RV taildraggers have prop strikes for different reasons. One recently was from a guy mishandling a wheel landing in a -4 and getting his nose a little low. Neither design is immune to prop strikes.

[rv6ejguy]

Originally Posted by Mel

Of all the light general aviation aircraft that I have flown (and I have flown over 78 different models) I have never had the experience of the tailplane stalling abruptly letting the nosewheel drop. The closest thing I have run across is the Mooney where the main gear is so far aft that holding the nosewheel off is difficult at best. Heavier "transport" type aircrarft...different deal altogether. As a matter of fact the extreme being the Space Shuttle where the nose wheel MUST be lowered earlier because the mains will not support the total weight. (Told to me by Robert "Hoot" Gibson) Bottom line...On RVs there is no problem with holding the nosewheel off as long as possible.
Mel...DAR

My 6A will drop the nose abruptly if you keep the stick hauled back and wait. You want to gently lower the nose while you still have elevator authority. While we hope that all RVs are within the proper C of G limits, it's important to note that the prototype RV6A was under 1000 lbs. with a light engine and wood prop. The ones with a Hartzell C/S that are in the 1100-1150 range have far more weight on the nose gear so it is prudent to be careful. As Van's say- " build it light".

[Jamie]

One important thing to remember about flying any tri-gear aircraft is that even if your airspeed is inadequate to lift the nose off the ground, the stick in your lap at even slow airspeeds will reduce at least some weight for the nosewheel. This is assuming of course that you have a net headwind while taxiing. If you have a tailwind, putting the stick in your lap will increase the amount of weight on the nose.

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by Bob Collins

... but I don't have a tailwheel rating and, frankly, aviation people have made tailwheels sound like ProSealing fuel tanks, so I've never actually thought it was something I wanted to do.

About 1/3 of my total time is in TW aircraft, split between 40 +/- different makes and models.

Most of the BS you hear about flying TW aircraft is just that, BS. Look at it like learning to fly, after 10 hours of duel you will wonder what the big deal was. Yes, you have to pay attention but shouldn't you be doing that when taking off and landing anyway?

A friend with over 5,000 TW hours once told me that when he turns downwind to base he adjusts himself in the seat, sits up straight, raises his head, moves his feet up the peddles, just gets ready to land. He said that little action helps him focus on the task at hand. It must work because in the same day I've flown with him in a J-3, Stearman, T-6, and C-150 and each and every landing we did was so very smooth I was never sure when we touched down.

What I tell people who ask about TW aircraft is, "If you like the plane, buy it and find a good instructor, flying a taildragger is just another learned motor skill. Remember when you thought you would never figure out the landing flair thing? Well you will figure out the tailwheel thing too."