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Tail-wheel Training/Endorsement

Louavul

Well Known Member
Anyone have a suggestion where I might look to get some tail-wheel instruction/endorsement in equipment somewhere between LSA and an Exrtra 300?

Doesn't seem to be anything in New Mexico and I'm not scoring in the adjacent states either.

I'm willing to travel however because of lodging cost would like to get the the training done in a 5/7 day duration.

Thanks,
 
Bit of a haul for you, but you might consider Greg Koontz in Alabama for the sort of "accelerated" training you're looking for. He offers an all-inclusive package - the training, lodging at his private airstrip, meals included, etc: http://gkairshows.com/Newsite/Training/Tailwheel.html

I haven't flown with him, so I can't offer a personal review, but he's at least very well-known on the air show circuit.
 
Taildragger instruction/endorsements

I offer taildragger training in a C-170B located in E79 Fresno, California.
Students average between 5-7 hours instruction for the endorsement
at $200 per hour. Ground school included. 209-675-6355
 
Tailwheel Endorsement

I have flown with Greg Koonz, at his place for his two day aerobatic course. Greg is a great instructor, explains everything very well in ground school, and is a very patient and good instructor. I highly recommend him.
 
Anyone have a suggestion where I might look to get some tail-wheel instruction/endorsement in equipment somewhere between LSA and an Exrtra 300?

Doesn't seem to be anything in New Mexico and I'm not scoring in the adjacent states either.

I'm willing to travel however because of lodging cost would like to get the the training done in a 5/7 day duration.

Thanks,

I redid my tailwheel endorsement a few years ago in Ft. Collins, CO with the following folks. Great school. Plus you'll get it under high density altitude conditions. We did the training in Mike Dalke's Citabria. He's a great instructor..former airline pilot. They're all great instructors there.

The Flying School
4824 Earhart Rd, Loveland, CO 80538
970 203 9980
http://www.theflyingschool.com/
 
A surprise post that a novice like myself can actually answer.

There is a gentleman named John Lorenz that has a Interstate Cadet that he trains with out of Sandia Airpark(Edgewood NM). Rates seem reasonable, I will be scheduling a few hours with him to see how I fancy old tailwheel flying.

Since Sandia Airpark is so close to Moriarty, they often fly over there to do pattern work and stuff.

Sundance aviation in Moriarty is pondering getting or partnering with a tailwheel aircraft for training also, but not sure how far that has proceeded.

Unfortunately none of them are so far willing to take the insurance hit to offer their planes for rental, only dual.

Let me know if you can't find his contact info.

Anyone have a suggestion where I might look to get some tail-wheel instruction/endorsement in equipment somewhere between LSA and an Exrtra 300?

Doesn't seem to be anything in New Mexico and I'm not scoring in the adjacent states either.

I'm willing to travel however because of lodging cost would like to get the the training done in a 5/7 day duration.

Thanks,
 
Bruce Bohannon, Just south of Houston. He is in Angleton, Tx at Flying Tiger field (81D), and can be reached at (281) 889-8078. He does tail-wheel instruction. There's a write-up under the reviews tab and he is listed in the transition training tab also. Highly recommend! Have fun!


Scott
 
Call FBO's offering training and see if they have a tail wheel plane for dual closest to you. Progressively widen your search. There is nothing magical. It is not a rating or category or class.. other than Airplane SEL.

There is no minimum hours for an enforcement. 5 hours of dual would be on the high side IMHO. It took me less than 2 hours, one lesson, to get comfortable and endorsed. However it is individual skill, so it takes what it takes. I got my TW endorsement +28 yrs and 900 tail wheel hours ago. I flew my RV-4 not soon after my endorsement. I did not get any transition training. I did have some rides in RV's. One a demo flight with Mr. Van himself. I also had a back seat RV4 aerobatic flight. So I had a little stick time, but no TO and LDG's in the RV. RV's on the TW spectrum are pretty easy. They land slow, have plenty of rudder, decent gears and brakes.

Before doing training, read about tail wheel "theory" and techniques.

Recommend Citabria, Aeronca, Taylorcraft or even a Cub. These have sticks and closer to an RV. You likely will not find a Luscombe 8 side by side, but they are pretty sporty and fun to fly. Cessna TG's are fine as well. If you are proficient in these planes you can handle an RV.

If you are current and proficient in landing a conventional landing gear plane, transition will be no problem, especially side slip landings (cross wind). If you can land a C172 in gusty cross wind component of 10 kts you will be fine. If you are rusty overall get some practice in a Trike especially in cross wind landings. TG tend to weather vane and you have to fly it... Trikes are way more forgiving to poor technique in regards to TO and LDG control once wheels are on the ground.
 
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Tailwheel Training

I received transition training and tailwheel endorsement from Jan Bussell in Florida. I think I paid around $165ish/hr. Better catch him before he finally decides to retire.
 
Too many stories about ground looping. I would take the training seriously and seriously have fun.


I too received my endorsement in a Champ with 5.0 hours but didn't get really proficient until I had much more time.

I have helped some 121 big jet guys and each took 10 hours and about 60 laps in the pattern. They were coming out of 777 and A-300s so the flare for a one wheel landing in a cessna 140 / RV-6 was a little different.

Make sure to have fun and report back with whomever you choose and how it all goes.
 
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Chandler Air Service at KCHD in Arizona. I got mine flying with Curt Murphee.
They have a few Supercubs that they will teach you to really fly them and land.


I never even got close to having a bad landing or ground looping ever... then one day I was out by myself and took a taxiway turn too hard. Swapped ends faster than you could imagine. Thankfully didn't wreck anything, but that's when I decided If I'm going to ground loop something I ought to be able to fix it.
 
"I never even got close to having a bad landing or ground looping ever... then one day I was out by myself and took a taxiway turn too hard. Swapped ends faster than you could imagine. Thankfully didn't wreck anything, but that's when I decided If I'm going to ground loop something I ought to be able to fix it."


Not to hijack but I was wondering of all tail wheel pilots here on VAF how many have ground looped.
 
Just a thought based on an experience I had...

We have no t/w instructors on Delmarva that I could find which meant driving several hours for lessons. Thus, I was hoping to put together some big blocks of time and knock it out in a few days.

I found a guy a couple of hours away and scheduled my first tailwheel lesson. Couldn’t have been more excited about it on the way there, and couldn’t have been more discouraged on the way home. It wasn’t entirely his fault, I was a rusty pilot and not very familiar with his aircraft, but he gave me zero time to get familiar as we never even left the pattern. I had studied at home, and we had a ground school session before flying, so I wasn’t going into it completely ignorant, but almost as soon as we were off the ground, his personality came out and it was, to put it lightly, stressful. He started yelling, constantly taking the controls, criticizing but offering little good explanation of what he was doing. I was just getting used to the plane when he said “times up” and we went in. It was a complete waste of money and I found a different instructor.

Maryanne Buckley out of Patomac couldn’t have been more different. We took her citabria out to the practice area for a bit until I was comfortable with stalls, slow flight, control positions, etc. we then practiced landings. She didn’t seem overly concerned about me breaking her plane. She was calm and collected the whole time, letting me think through my mistakes before correcting if my conclusion was wrong. I figured she was back there man handling the controls the whole time until we landed for a break and she said I’d been doing the last 10 or so completely by myself.

The moral of the story: If you’re going to plan to do your t/w at a distance, meet the instructor first before planning a week with someone you may potentially clash with. Maryanne and I accomplished in one afternoon what it may have taken weeks to do with the other guy.
 
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"I never even got close to having a bad landing or ground looping ever... then one day I was out by myself and took a taxiway turn too hard. Swapped ends faster than you could imagine. Thankfully didn't wreck anything, but that's when I decided If I'm going to ground loop something I ought to be able to fix it."


Not to hijack but I was wondering of all tail wheel pilots here on VAF how many have ground looped.

I think there are those that have ground looped and those that will!

I never got an endorsement! :D
 
I?d like to throw in a second recommendation for Chandler Air Service/Curt Murphree. Nice operation.
 
I think there are those that have ground looped and those that will!

I never got an endorsement! :D

Well that is said but many pilots hang up the flying without a GL. However the saying is meant to keep you from being complacent.

Per FAR you don't need an enforcement if you were PIC of TW plane before April 15 1991. That applied to me but I had so little training, time and recency I did the dual and got an endorcement. A TW or Trike are airplanes and land similarly, slight tail low, aligned with runway near stall. (However on the RV4 near stall would plant tailwheel first and plop mains on. It worked but not as nice as a bit of speed and 3 point ldg.)

Unlike trikes, TW planes do wheel landings, you intentionally land flat, fly on and hold it down. The fwd location of mains on TW planes is different and ground handling, steerable wheel in back vs nose of course. Not to down play the differences, they are still planes and fly by the same physics.

(i)*Additional training required for operating tailwheel airplanes.*(1) Except as provided in paragraph (i)(2) of this section, no person may act as pilot in command of a tailwheel airplane unless that person has received and logged flight training from an authorized instructor in a tailwheel airplane and received an endorsement in the person's logbook from an authorized instructor who found the person proficient in the operation of a tailwheel airplane. The flight training must include at least the following maneuvers and procedures:

(i) Normal and crosswind takeoffs and landings;

(ii) Wheel landings (unless the manufacturer has recommended against such landings); and

(iii) Go-around procedures.

(2) The training and endorsement required by paragraph (i)(1) of this section is not required if the person logged pilot-in-command time in a tailwheel airplane before April 15, 1991.
 
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Well that is said but many pilots hang up the flying without a GL. However the saying is meant to keep you from being complacent.

Per FAR you don't need an enforcement if you were PIC of TW plane before April 15 1991. That applied to me but I had so little training, time and recency I did the dual and got an endorcement. A TW or Trike are airplanes and land similarly, slight tail low, aligned with runway near stall. (However on the RV4 near stall would plant tailwheel first and plop mains on. It worked but not as nice as a bit of speed and 3 point ldg.)

Unlike trikes, TW planes do wheel landings, you intentionally land flat, fly on and hold it down. The fwd location of mains on TW planes is different and ground handling, steerable wheel in back vs nose of course. Not to down play the differences, they are still planes and fly by the same physics.

(i)*Additional training required for operating tailwheel airplanes.*(1) Except as provided in paragraph (i)(2) of this section, no person may act as pilot in command of a tailwheel airplane unless that person has received and logged flight training from an authorized instructor in a tailwheel airplane and received an endorsement in the person's logbook from an authorized instructor who found the person proficient in the operation of a tailwheel airplane. The flight training must include at least the following maneuvers and procedures:

(i) Normal and crosswind takeoffs and landings;

(ii) Wheel landings (unless the manufacturer has recommended against such landings); and

(iii) Go-around procedures.

(2) The training and endorsement required by paragraph (i)(1) of this section is not required if the person logged pilot-in-command time in a tailwheel airplane before April 15, 1991.

Yes, The first plane I soloed was a J-3 in 1989, so I'm, err, "grandfathered." I was 23, though. :D I transitioned to a 172 to complete my PPL and then went back to flying floats and tail wheels. By no means does it mean that I'm immune to ground loops, though!

Landing RV's if different than the PA11, PA12, Citabria's or champs that I've flown. I could never 3-point my RV8 solo. I'd have to have the nose so high with the tail dragging that I could never see the runway. All wheel landings for me. It's possible with a 150lb+ passenger in the back and 1/2 fuel or less, but I still prefer to fly it onto the runway.
 
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