Sat 16 Dec 2006
I started my tail-wheel training today. The title of the post says it all. Let’s just say I managed not to ground-loop.
For those of you unfamiliar with tail-wheel airplanes, let me explain. When you learn to fly a typical airplane, you know the ones that look like really tiny versions of a 737, they have what’s known as a tricycle gear. That means there’s one wheel under the nose of the airplane, and one wheel under each wing. The two under the wing are called the mains and they have larger tyres than the nose-wheel. To take off the pilots lifts the nose-wheel off first and then the mains. On landing, the mains touch down first, followed by the nose wheel.
In a tail-wheel airplane, like the DC-3 or almost any classic aircraft, the mains are still under the wings, but the plane has a tail-wheel instead of a nose-wheel. For all intents and purposes the airplane still flies like a normal airplane, all aerodynamic laws still apply, and the cabin service is just as lousy. What’s different is that the plane handles differently when on the ground.
During taxi operations there’s actually a bit of an advantage because the plane can be spun around on a dime, but take-offs and landings are much harder. You’re probably wondering why. If the pilot knows what he’s doing, the center of gravity in the airplane is always between either the nose-wheel and the mains or between the mains and the tail-wheel. In a nose-wheel aircraft this means that the center of gravity is in front of the mains, and this has the positive characteristic that the weight of the aircraft helps keep it rolling straight down the runway centerline. (The nose-wheel and proper steering help too.)
In a tail-wheel aircraft, however, the center of gravity is behind the mains, so as the airplane begins to drift from the centerline one direction or the other, the weight of the aircraft will help exacerbate the problem and push the plane even futher in the direction of drift. If not corrected, the plane will start to turn so far that it spins around on the runway. This wouldn’t be too bad a problem if it didn’t lead to the outside wing striking the ground. Therefore, a tail-wheel pilot needs to be very quick in his or her application of the rudder to correct for any deviation from the centerline.
So, there I was sitting at the end of Palo Alto’s runway 31 (KPAO) in one of West Valley Flying Club’s Citabria’s (N75SE) with my instructor Bill Hightower. The tower cleared us and I started accelerating down the runway. First the plane swung to the left, then more to the left, I applied right rudder (or was it Bill), then the plane swung to the right, I applied left rudder, and so on. It’s a good thing this particular Citabria had 160hp because we took off before I had a chance to give myself a heart attack.
Bill told me later that it’s that way on every tail-wheel pilot’s first attempt, making me wonder why any instructor would ever want to put themselves through that kind of ‘learning experience.’
A couple of touch-and-gos later and I started to get the hang of it. There are very few things you can do after you get your private pilot license, no matter how many hours you have as a tricycle gear aviator, that really show you how incompetent a pilot you are than trying your first tail-wheel take-off.
But it sure is fun!