Scudrunners

I actually avoided wheel landings in the Pitts due to the difficulty in sticking it on without a bounce at the 90MPH or so required (slower planes were not really tricky but the Pitts.. yikes). Colonel here offered the advise to put one wheel down a bit before the other. Amazing, simple and works perfectly and while I spent many thousands of dollars doing training over the years nobody else offered up this simple bit of advice and best of all it was free.

A moment of perspective:

In my engineering career, over the decades,
I have worked with some extremely bright
people.

The idea of telling them [b]HOW[/b] to do something
would be extremely odd.  Improper.  Bizarre, even.

Hell, you don't even tell a really bright engineer
[b]WHAT[/b] he should do, to solve a problem, let
alone micro-manage the implementation of that
solution by telling him [b]HOW[/b] to do it.

All you do, is tell really bright people that there
is a problem, and to go away and fix it.  Point
them and off they go.  Make sure they have the
resources they need.

This is why I have such a problem with the insane
micro-management by really stupid people that I
see in aviation.  No names mentioned.

Reminds me:  the wife and I went to the INnOut
Burger yesterday.  Sort of a west coast Five Guys.
Anyways, the wife looks around and whispers,

"You are a minority here".

I look around and reply loudly,

"Is there no one else in the room with an IQ over 160?"

I thought it was funny as hell.  The people in the
INnOut burger (and in aviation) differ, I understand.

Not like you see someone ground looping a DC-3 on youtube everyday

It happens.  I know a guy, bought a mint P-51D,
groundlooped it.  Over a million dollars damage,
took years to repair.

I wonder what a big tailwheel airplane would be like

First, I might recommend that you fly a heavier
(any heavier, more common) aircraft.  Like plumbing,
you can learn all there is in one day, but there is some
stuff to learn there.  Not talking about systems, just
basic physics / momentum / inertia and the consequences
thereof.  Learning to use the trim.

Next, fly a heavier taildragger.  If you have flown
taildraggers, and heavier nosewheel aircraft, the
transition to a heavier taildragger should not be
a big deal.


PS  Slight subject change: Anyone flown an SF260? 
I am reluctant.  It looks sexy, and I'm sure it's got
a stick in the right hand and throttle in the left as
God intended ...

But it's nosewheel (blech), and there's not exactly
much new to me about a Lyc 540, and I was previously
really disappointed by a Falco 8L (same guy).  Piece
of shit.  Don't get me wrong, I love Italian food, and
the Piaggio Royal Gull has a special place in my heart.

But I think I'd rather fly another (new to me) biplane
type.  Maybe like a Great Lakes or something.  Never
flown one of those.

Thoughts?

[quote]you didn't like the Falco 8L (why?)[/quote]

I didn't mind the high wing loading and I
forgive the lumpy workmanship and the
horrible canopy ...

But it was woefully underpowered (overweight?)
with the Lyc 360 and constant speed prop. 

At zero density altitude, it struggled to get off
a long, paved runway, which surprised me for a
tiny, two person airplane.

Seriously needed JATO bottles:

[youtube][/youtube]


Falco 8L need a LOT more horsepower per
pound.  I don't mind a lot of pounds per
square foot of wing, but it surprised me
that a Lyc 360 and c/s prop was completely
inadequate for such a small, 2-place aircraft.

Like many homebuilts, it may have been
hundreds of pounds overweight.  Very common.

On occasion I fly a 22,000 lbs taildragger. However I don't think it's the same thing you guys are talking about...


I prefer wheel landings in my Stinson. To me, it feels like I have more positive control throughout the entire phase of approach and landing. Of course with a three point, there is still positive control, however there is certainly a time to polish off the cobwebs.

[quote]Cessna Crane[/quote]

I had no idea there were any still flying.

Watch your ass in that thing.  Remember,
people I know dying in airplanes depresses
me, and you don't want to be thoughtless,
ok?

The C117 is a fairly big tail wheel airplane and it was no where as easy to land x/wind as the DC3.

The Cessna Crane was really not difficult to fly,  the Anson Mk5 was really good in x/winds as long as you knew how to operate vacuum over hydraulic brakes.