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Tailwheel or Trigear, a visual comparison

FresnoR

FresnoR

Well Known Member
I was really interested in getting a direct visual comparison of the trigear and taildragger. Since Mr. Sacks has in my opinion the coolest paint job of any RV, I used an image of his RV-9 and a little photoshop. I hope he doesn't mind me posting it here.

For entertainment value only of course, let the battle begin.


RV%20Compare.jpg
 
Trigear

Funny thing but I like the tri gear. What has happened in my life that has influenced what I think looks cool. Tri gear just look cool to me. Weird.
 
Hands down the tri-gear is the better looking. It has a more "aggressive" stance suitable for the military paint scheme. Maybe with a different paint job the tail dragger would be the one.
 
Negative.....

lancef53 said:
That might be the first time a tricycle has been called aggressive:)

Taildragger all the way for me.
Click to expand...

.....think P-38! I was reading Jimmy Doolittle's book this morning and the section about the P-38's kickin a$$ in Europe,

Best,
 
Taildragger. At rest, it is angled skyward in a ready to go stance. And it looks so much cleaner without the extra hardware hanging off the nose.
 
I just love the tail wheel look on prop driven aircraft, it just makes it look Classic. Just need those "Happy Feet", although I must admit it would have been easier to learn in a trike. Whatever makes you happy.
 
tail wheel

Not only do the look better, but ground handling is easier in a tailwheel. I am a 400hr pp with more than half of that in tailwheel . Flew a nose wheel yesterday and could not "spin it around " for run up , parking ,fuel up. The trike had the turning radius of a "I Beam Ford Van" !!!!
 
Another weirdo here

Even though I built and fly a taildragger, in looking at the photo posted, I think the tri-gear looks better. However, I also think that it's model-specific.

I don't have a problem with the side-by-side with nosegears -- to me they look natural that way. But put that wheel up front on an -8 and it just doesn't look as good to me. I think the tail sticks too far up in the air or something, but that's just me...

I'll gladly let any "Lady-8" drivers fly alongside me. :D

(don't get your knickers in a twist -- just kidding about the "Lady-8" comment)
 
AEA said:
Hands down the tri-gear is the better looking. It has a more "aggressive" stance suitable for the military paint scheme. Maybe with a different paint job the tail dragger would be the one.
Click to expand...
I agree. The paint scheme/shape and tail wheel, just doesn't go all that well together.
 
I can spin my RV7A as fast as I can my kitfox tail wheel around. So that's not a factor, I can taxi my RV7A better than my kitfox because I can see in front of me. I love the kitfox look as a tail wheel. I love the looks of my 7A. I guess it just comes down to what you want. Oh, I have 1800 hrs in tail wheel. I prefer my 7A to be tri gear, I have 275hrs on that machine now.
 
g zero said:
Not only do the look better, but ground handling is easier in a tailwheel. I am a 400hr pp with more than half of that in tailwheel . Flew a nose wheel yesterday and could not "spin it around " for run up , parking ,fuel up. The trike had the turning radius of a "I Beam Ford Van" !!!!
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you're talking about some other tri-gear...because the RV trikes will turn around on a dime. Ground handling with the tri-gear RVs is superb. I agree though that in the typical Skyhawk, etc it does take two zip codes to turn around.

As for the looks of them? To each his own. It's a meaningless argument.
 
The difference is small, but you can actually turn a trigear in a tighter space than a tailwheel RV, given the same model (6A vs. 6, or 7A vs. 7). That's because the distance from the stationary wheel to the farthest out moving point (wingtip on opposite side or tail) is longer on the tailwheel aircraft.

Of course, we're only talking a couple of feet here.
 
N8RV said:
Even though I built and fly a taildragger, in looking at the photo posted, I think the tri-gear looks better. However, I also think that it's model-specific.

I don't have a problem with the side-by-side with nosegears -- to me they look natural that way. But put that wheel up front on an -8 and it just doesn't look as good to me. I think the tail sticks too far up in the air or something, but that's just me...

I'll gladly let any "Lady-8" drivers fly alongside me. :D

(don't get your knickers in a twist -- just kidding about the "Lady-8" comment)
Click to expand...

What he said.
 
I came very close to doing Bruce's paint scheme on my -7A. If this photo shop image had been posted a couple of months ago, I probably would have done it.

It's a great look on both planes.
 
It was the look Bruce's plane the made me make the decision to build a tailwheel. Both look great, I fly either.
 
VTOL?

I think you guys are all off base!

I MUCH prefer the VTOL model that came in for a landing shortly after the original picture was taken! :D

 
Y'all got too much time on your hands!

Get out to the garage or hangar and spend some quality time with your RV!

Here's what you can do with a TD, slider, OD green, RV9 on a beautiful spring morning in Georgia.

After landing, I took her to the wash rack to get cleaned up for SNF. :)

42966155.jpg
 
Had to add a little to the "too much time on our hands" segment, The RV-Cub landing gear version flew in afterwards:

RV%20Compare%20cub.jpg
 
I'm not any good with Photoshop, so I can't add to the collage of gear form RVs. However, the concept of a retractable RV does sound appealing, and I think it looks pretty cool ...
RV-6rt.jpg
 
Can someone put a turbine in the nose or..

slap a rotor on it please... perhaps landing behind the stationary ones in the photo?
 
CNEJR said:
... love the tail wheel look on prop driven aircraft, it just makes it look Classic...
Click to expand...

Nope, sorry, it just makes it look antique, and the military paint scheme just makes it look like a toy. A tail wheel looks good on a Cub, for nostalgic reasons, but to most of the world, a tailwheel just doesn't look like a real airplane.
 
N8RV said:
I'm not any good with Photoshop, so I can't add to the collage of gear form RVs. However, the concept of a retractable RV does sound appealing, and I think it looks pretty cool ...
RV-6rt.jpg
Click to expand...


This is awesome. The only reason it isn't perfect is because it's not an -8 :D
 
Tri-gear on the 6 looks better. Tail dragger is much better looking for the 7, 8, and 9. This is because the 6A has shorter MLG and therfore sits almost 3 degrees nose high. Not as nose high as the 6 but close. The looks of the 7A and 8A are not as good as the tail is too high in the air.

I have hundreds of hours in a tailwheel airplanesbut glad I built the tri-gear.
 
JohnK said:
Nope, sorry, it just makes it look antique, and the military paint scheme just makes it look like a toy. A tail wheel looks good on a Cub, for nostalgic reasons, but to most of the world, a tailwheel just doesn't look like a real airplane.
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I can vote both ways for what makes an airplane look good. A 747 taildragger would look rediculous, and the passengers wouldn't be too happy boarding DC-3 style from a rear door & then walking up hill!

RV's are just RV's, but we sometimes paint them to mimic a personal favorite, be it tailwheel or nosegear. I'll just have to call my nosewheel 6A, an engine out P-38 because it has invasion stripes. Or I can stand in front of the nosewheel for photo ops and call it a P-51. :)

Never the less, invasion stripes on flaps that are positioned 40 degrees down, just look dang good!!!

L.Adamson -- RV6A
 
JohnK said:
Nope, sorry, it just makes it look antique, and the military paint scheme just makes it look like a toy. A tail wheel looks good on a Cub, for nostalgic reasons, but to most of the world, a tailwheel just doesn't look like a real airplane.
Click to expand...

Yep, I like those tri gear Ultimate 300's, Pitts, Su 26, Extra 300's, Lazar 200's; Nice little airplane "toys", they really put on a great aerobatic show.......hey, come to think of it I don't think, I have ever seen one on those.

And a Mustang with a Nose Gear? :eek:

Really, it's just personal prefrence. Build what you like and can fly.
 
CNEJR said:
And a Mustang with a Nose Gear? :eek:
Click to expand...

A Mustang looks "purty" good on it's tail gear, but would look pretty silly with it all hanging out in combat....

A sleek business jet wouldn't impress many...if squatting on hind legs.

Anyone that thinks a tail wheel RV is a good bush plane, should think again..

L.Adamson ----- RV6A
 
Secret is out

Don,
You leaked my secret modification for the Doll!

Actually, a guy walked up to me a Oshkosh a few years ago, and showed me pictures of a retractable RV-8 he was building. I wonder what happened to that project?
 
Wow!

That is literally the prettiest plane I have ever seen! Thanks for the picture! You wouldn't happen to have that in a high res version would you?
Danny, you have an amazing airplane...even if the gear don't retract. You have my dream plane!
 
N8RV said:
Sorry, I was in a hurry. Is THIS better? (my compliments to "Sky" King)

Doll_RG.jpg
Click to expand...
Man, if there were a retract option for the 8 I would sell everything I own right now for one of these! That is one Beautiful Doll!!:D
 
RV-51?

Oh, what the heck ... might as well complete the image transformation ...

Doll_RG2.jpg


One of you photochoppers can do a MUCH better job, I'm sure ... :D
 
Exhaust Stack Shadows missing...

Ron Lee said:
Cannot out photoshop us when the N numbers on the turbine are backwards :)
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Not only did he forget about the numbers being reversed, but the shadow under the cowl has no visible exhaust stacks from the turboprop engine.

As for me, the RV-9A I built loves to fly up high on long cross-country flights sipping fuel at 5.5 to 6 gallons per hour. As for visibility, every seat is a window seat. As for ground handling, I can see those pesky carts on the taxi way and avoid them. Can't say that for a Dragon Tail RV-9 from North Carolina.

OK, where is Bill Repucci? Still putting it back together?
 
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