Proficient Pilot: Taildragging

The landing wasn’t pretty, but it was good enough. As soon as I touched down and began working the rudder pedals, the tower controller requested that I exit the runway as soon as practical. A Douglas DC–6 was on short final. I nudged the left rudder pedal, but the big Cessna continued tracking straight ahead. The right crosswind was having its way and resisted my command to turn. Losing patience, I shoved the pedal more aggressively. Although the 195 yawed left, it continued tracking along the runway centerline. I shoved the pedal to its limit, and the airplane finally veered off the runway and onto the parallel taxiway. It did so, however, while rolling in one direction and heading in another. I was literally taxiing in a crab, convinced that my sloppy landing had broken the landing gear.

I continued taxiing in this awkward, embarrassing condition until reaching the FBO that had hired me to deliver this airplane. The aircraft owner and two pilots who had witnessed my struggles and frustrations were laughing so hysterically that tears were running down their cheeks.

The owner apologized for not telling me that his 195 was equipped with crosswind landing gear. In other words, the main landing gear wheels would caster so that a pilot could land in a crosswind while crabbing and without having to land in a slip (with a lowered upwind wing). Turning sharply on the ground also would cause the wheels to caster.

I am occasionally asked if obtaining a tailwheel endorsement is worthwhile. I always reply with affirmative enthusiasm. Flying a taildragger improves your ability to handle any airplane. It is intolerant of sloppiness or inattentiveness, and the skills obtained while learning to fly one are transferrable to other airplanes.

A taildragger is more demanding because its center of gravity is behind the main landing gear instead of ahead of it (as is the case with tricycle gear). If this were not so, the taildragger would taxi on its nose, which is hard on the propeller.

This leads to two problems. The first is avoided by landing a taildragger in a three-point attitude. Consider what happens if the airplane is allowed to touch down on its main wheels (instead of on all three wheels). If the airplane has any sink rate at all when the mains touch down, the center of gravity of the airplane—which is behind the main gear—continues downward because of its momentum. This forces the tail down and the nose to rise. It also increases the wing’s angle of attack and balloons the taildragger back into the air. The pilot finds himself several feet above the runway, in a nose-high attitude and on the verge of a stall. He needs to react quickly and skillfully.

Such a bounce can be avoided by ensuring that the airplane does not touch down until it is in a three-point attitude with the stick held fully aft.

I use a teaching technique that reeks of male chauvinism to prevent new taildragger pilots from touching down prematurely. After my (male) student chops the power and is gliding over the runway threshold, I inform him that there is a young lady stationed at each runway light and that these ladies become progressively more beautiful as the aircraft floats along the runway. I also tell him that the fictitious lady to whom he will be introduced at flight’s end is determined by his touchdown point. The farther along the runway he lands, the more alluring will be his companion. (Handsome men can be “placed” along the runway when instructing women pilots.) This technique encourages a student to prolong the flare for as long as possible and increases the likelihood of a successful three-point, no-bounce landing.

The second problem that results from the center of gravity being behind the main gear is directional instability on the ground. During takeoff and landing, the pilot must be extremely attentive to the slightest yaw and apply immediate and appropriate corrective action. Applying insufficient rudder (especially in a crosswind) enables the taildragger to yaw into the wind like the weathervane that it is. Applying excessive rudder can enable the airplane to perform a dizzying, ground-looping pirouette.

To avoid surprises, taildragger pilots must constantly work the rudder pedals until the landing is complete, the engine has been shut down, and the chocks are in place.

Web: www.barryschiff.com