Taildragger crosswind technique

[Chuck Ellsworth]

[quote]
Thoughts?  Sort of like kicking a tiger in the balls and then holding
tight onto his tail.[/quote]

Sounds like it is the logical way to do it.

[John Swallow]

I can't believe that with all the tailwheel experts on this means that no one has ever executed what is a pretty straight forward manoeuver.


Then again, maybe it's unique to the Cessna 170 series; I never had the occasion to use it again as I was delivering C-FZXO to its new owner in BC and never owned another TW aircraft.

[Blakey]

[quote author=Colonel Sanders link=topic=9402.msg26008#msg26008 date=1544320772]
Well, I kind of understand the theory about letting the taildragger
weathervane into the crosswind, but it's fucking scary.

Here's a similar situation.  Light twin, engine failure at 200 AGL,
you actually manage to [u]NOT CRASH[/u].  You've got the gear
and the flaps up and the bad engine feathered, and you're climbing
at blue line with the ball half out, showing a whopping 200 FPM
on the VSI.  Good engine is buzzing to shit, and you hope it doesn't
crap out next.

Right about then, it's tempting to sacrifice a little bit of control
for performance, and let the engine ever-so-slowly turn into the
dead engine for the turn to downwind/base/final for an immediate
landing on the runway you just took off on.

Thoughts?  Sort of like kicking a tiger in the balls and then holding
tight onto his tail.

Ignore the TC nonsense about not being about to fly right hand
circuit.  All that paperwork BS goes out the window when it's time
to fly the aircraft.
[/quote]

My thoughs depend on whether climbing is more important than turning.  Am I departing 26 in Regina or 36 in Pitt Meadows?  John, you will find more float pilots who understand what you are talking about; their runways are not always straight.

[Nark1]

If the situation calls for yaw during the takeoff, such as sandbar, sure no problem. But it's not germane to the topic.

Have I taken off on at angle to the runway centerline? sure.  Is it a practice, no. I really have no need to.