My First Tailwheel Lesson

[n5lp]

Originally Posted by AirAce

...I have not read that any one has mentioned the idea of fanning the rudder in a TW airplane...

I have seen a few airplanes with the rudder fanning but not very many. I have never done it and haven't had any scares to date.

[sandifer]

Originally Posted by n5lp

I have seen a few airplanes with the rudder fanning but not very many. I have never done it and haven't had any scares to date.

I think some may have developed the fanning habit during tailwheel transition training as their instructor tried to get them to "move" their feet. The pilot-induced back and forth motion won't necessarily average out to a straight line down the runway, since the net effect is still no correction for external forces as well as for the natural instability of the tailwheel configuration. I think it's best to make corrections when needed, and leave the airplane alone otherwise. You can spot a good tailwheel pilot by observing who moves the rudder the least, not the most.

[AirAce]

I reckon if you can not understand the rudder fanning operation then I definately recomment that you don't try it. And if a CFI doesn't understand it or why then how can he teach it. There aren't many CFIs areound anymore that has a few thousand hours in TW airplanes. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the technique because it is too technical for the average pilot. And true, you will see far more pilots that don't use it than those that do. The reason of course is that most pilots never heard of it. If you are able to understand it and learn how to use it then you will increase your ability to cope with greater crosswind landings. But if not, then by all means stick with the nose wheel. The very reason for the fanning technique is to take care of the outside forces like gusty crosswinds.

Similar to the arguement about wheel landings vs three point vs full stall landings. The atmosphere can really get turbulent about this subject. Three point landings are always the best for all conditions excpet in certain cases where battle damage dictates otherwise.

And then there is the thing about the T&B vs the Turn Coordinator. The turn coordinator should be mounted in a boat and then sink the boat.

Another one that will stir up a lot of dust is the down wind turn. Do you loose AS when turning from upwind to downwind?

Come on guys lets have some lively talk. I've introduced three more hotly debated topics.