checkride complete NEXT........

:lol: after successfully completing my checkride for Private Pilot on November 22 I am ready to take the next BIG step...taildraggin' got a friend who is offering a test ride in his supercub or supercruiser or maybe BOTH if I'm GOOD!! Any suggestions or words of wisdom??

Uh huh.........give thanks you have that friend.

kym62 said:

:lol: after successfully completing my checkride for Private Pilot on November 22 I am ready to take the next BIG step...taildraggin' got a friend who is offering a test ride in his supercub or supercruiser or maybe BOTH if I'm GOOD!! Any suggestions or words of wisdom??

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When he yells "I HAVE CONTROL"... let go immediately and pay attention!!

Have fun, don't get rudder pedal crazy and you'll never go back to a training wheeled aircraft again!!

Wayne

If you do a good job of handling the trigear plane, then pay attention to what the airplane is doing and react, you will have no problem with the taildragger. Most people having problems with taildraggers just set there and don't do anything. Alott the same but alittle different.

Congratulations & Welcome to the family kym62!

Are you sure you want to be associated with us? We're the ones that "plane drivers" talk about in hushed tones. They point at us, twirl their fingers next to their heads and hold their ears and noses.

But seriously... I'm assuming you're flying for pleasure. I doubt you'll find anything more enjoyable than taildraggers. It is a challenge well worth the effort.

I don't know who to tell you to look up in Florida (I'm in Ohio), but I believe several posts on this site mention folks that instruct in PA 18's (Floats & wheels) down that way. You can use the search engine, but I bet some of the others around will pipe up with suggestions.

Take every opportunity to fly and have fun and LEARN. Be careful... You've got a brand new ticket, and if you haven't already you will at some point scare the P--s out of yourself.

This site is a wonderful resource. You can get the best tips and tricks, as well as learn from the mistakes of others just by wandering around these halls.

Again, Welcome! Hope to see you around.

Pay attention to where your butt is going and keep your feet awake and happy!

Pat

congratulations!!! You'll have fun in the cub. And you'll never be bored. You'll also find that most "flyers" would give anything to be a "Cub Driver". Example: I was on a ramp next to a pristine Kingaire. The 2 "professional pilots" came right over OOH & Ahh'd. And said" Now that would be something to fly".

The only thing I can add to the previous posts is what our father taught us from the 40's. Just keep it straight . . and most everything thing will work out. And . .if your going to spread it out . . . spread it out in a straight line. You'll find that while your concentrating on keeping it straight . . that "spread out" option becomes a thing of the past.

Go at it as it is a very rewarding experience....just don't be too hard on yourself during those first few landings....you'll get it--trust us!

It's a whole new world of flying!

Kym

Congratulations you have completed the Big step getting you Pilots license. Getting your tail dragger indorsement should be fun I hope you enjoy it.

Cub_Driver

checkride

What j3m said; most people who transistion from tri-gear have lazy or slow reactions to needed rudder/steering pedal inputs. Airspeed control on landings tend to be a bit more critical when three pointing. The main thing though is to have fun while you are learning......

All good advice. I would also add that there are tailwheel instructors, and there are people who can give you a tailwheel endorsement. You want a tailwheel instructor who has a fair amount of tailwheel time (at least 100 hours, more if you can get it).

One of the loopholes of the regs is that if you are a CFI, all you need is a tailwheel endorsement to start teaching tailwheel. So theoretically (and believe me it happens) you could get a TW endorsement in 3 hours and start teaching the next day. Same with seaplane ratings. Of course, the insurance company has some checks and balances for this.

I highly recommend reading "The Compleat Taildragger Pilot" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0963913700 it has a lot of good information in it.

Finally, if your primary instructor ever flew taildraggers, then you probably will find it easier than if he/she did not. When I give primaries, I make sure they land tri-gears the same as they would a taildragger - keeping the stick/yoke all the way back till we are stopped (among other things like showing them where the rudder pedals are, and x-wind taxi corrections).

Good luck and have fun!

sj