I
must admit, whenever I have seen tailwheel aircraft in the
past, I often thought to myself, why would anyone want to
fly one? I mean, why not just fly a 'normal plane'? I never
really fully understood the fixation that some tailwheel
pilots had with their machines... that was until I started
to talk with some of them, hear some of their experiences,
and learn more about their beloved aircraft. I started to
realize that I was missing out on a whole range of fun aircraft
that I am unable to fly with my nosewheel restricted RAAus
certificate. I couldn't believe it! I was beginning to gain
a longing to fly some of these aircraft; aircraft like the
Thruster, Skyfox, Drifter, LightWing, and many others that
are out of reach for me without my endorsement. Not being
the sort of person that shies away from a challenge, I decided
I would see for myself what all this tailwheel flying is
about! It was time to have my nosewheel restriction removed
and acquire my endorsement to fly RAAus registered tailwheel
aircraft.
The first challenge that I was faced
with was finding a RAAus school that teaches on tailwheel
aircraft. I searched for schools that were not too far
away, made lots of phone calls, only to be disappointed
time and time again. Most schools that I rang did not
offer the training, while others were cost prohibitive
on my modest income, and one school, who did have tailwheel
aircraft at reasonable prices, told me that I wouldn't
know how to fly, since I was trained on nosewheel aircraft,
I was told by the CFI, he would have to teach me to fly
all over again. Needless to say, I wasn't overly motivated
to book in with him! Finally, I spoke with Bruce Vickers,
CFI of Golden Plains Flying School at Lethbridge Airpark
who, even though was unable to offer the training due
to not having a tailwheel aircraft available at the moment,
kindly passed on Jim Cuthill's number to me. Jim and his
partner Kay run Falcon Hawke Flying School at Boxwood,
Victoria; Jim runs the three-axis training on his immaculate
and stunning red and blue Thruster T300, while Kay instructs
on trikes... which got me thinking about getting my trike
license - but that's another story!
On arrival at Falcon Hawke, I was warmly welcomed by both
Jim and Kay who were very positive and encouraging, making
me feel perfectly at home right away. Jim wasted no time,
immediately pulling his beautiful machine out of the hangar,
and showing me over his beloved and well cared for aircraft.
Jim pointed out everything that I needed to know and look
for on these rag and tube types, and it was a huge comfort
to be shown and explained in detail the safety features
and characteristics of the T300. In no time at all, Jim
had me strapped in and engine running... I remember thinking,
there was no backing out now!
The angle at which I was sitting was the most notable
difference in the taxi, along with the amount of power
needed to get it moving from a stand still. Steering was
a little different on the ground, with a bit of anticipation
needed before executing a turn, with a quick burst of
power to start the tail swinging in the desired direction.
It seemed a little clumsy at first, but not at all difficult
- just different.
Once I had the taxi under control, it was time to enter
the runway and line up for take-off. This was when I started
to feel a little nervous! All the horror stories of tail-draggers,
ground looping, and associated issues were flooding through
my mind. Even though I had done the theory side of things
and have plenty of flying hours on tricycle undercarriage
aircraft, it suddenly all felt so different sitting there
ready to race down the runway on two wheels! I took a
deep breath, and after a thorough briefing from Jim, I
applied full-power.
The Thruster burst into life, moving rapidly forward.
As unnatural as it felt, I applied forward stick to raise
the tail. Using all my available energy I started to pedal
as if I was riding a two-wheel bike, over controlling
like a maniac to make sure this beast stayed straight
and headed in the right direction! I soon found out that
all that pedalling on take-off wasn't necessary, just
some gentle controlled kicks of rudder on subsequent take-offs
produced a much more desirable and comfortable ground
run, allowing this beauty to make her own way into the
sky to do what she does best.
I remember being very uncomfortable with the feeling of
racing down the runway after lifting the tail up - it
felt as though I was pushing too far forward and the nose
was about to run into the ground! But after several attempts
these new attitudes seemed somewhat more normal. I must
say the take-offs were much easier than I ever anticipated,
the landings, however, were a different story!
Coming into land, I found myself lined up on final, with
everything seeming pretty much typical to me, not really
any different to any other aircraft I have flown. Jim
ran me through the first couple of landings, and I remember
thinking to myself, "What?! This seems crazy!!"
But again, I wouldn't say that it was hard, however, it
was certainly very different, and as I was doing 'wheeler
landings' (driving the mains on first), I needed to oppose
every instinct that I had to pull back on the stick in
the flair. It felt strange, but when the forward energy
had depleted to the point that the mains were about to
touch, I had to push gently and positively forward to
make the main wheels stick. Strangely enough, that is
exactly what they did, a bit of forward movement at the
exact time produced a 'sticking' feeling to the ground.
But that was the easy part... after the mains were on,
the tail wants to sink (and again fighting the instinct
to pull back on the stick), this is opposed by holding
progressively more and more forward stick, which to a
tricycle pilot felt like an highly un-natural thing to
do, until there really is not enough forward motion to
keep the tail flying.
At this point, the tail starts to gently sink, and this
is when the real fun started! As the aircraft was slowing,
the tail wanted to come around, to which a large amount
of rudder was used to keep it behind us, followed by an
amount of opposite rudder to prevent it coming too far
back around the other way... that was one sneaky tail!
In no time at all, Jim had me doing some solo time in
his beloved Thruster, and I am happy to report as is Jim,
that I didn't bend it. Through Jim's positive approach
and patient nature, he had my confidence up to take on
this beast. The Thruster reminds me a lot of the lion
called Aslan in 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe'.
It is said that Aslan "is not a tame lion, but he
is good". The same can be said of the Thruster, and
I guess a lot of tailwheel types, that they are not tame,
but they are good! That is, if stroked correctly they
will respond predictably, however, rub them up the wrong
way and they probably will bite! Having said that, don't
let that put you off... it's really not that hard, and
Jim has plenty of correct techniques to help tame them
even further.
I really don't know why I hadn't done this sooner! I had
an absolute blast flying with Jim at Falcon Hawke Services
in his T300 Thruster. I really felt as though my skills
as a pilot have been further sharpened because of this
experience. If you need an empathetic, positive, and caring
instructor, Jim is your man!
Suddenly, this weird world of tail-dragging now seems
so much more inviting and fun to me - I get it now! This
obsession with driving a tailwheel aircraft has caught
me; in fact I find them so much more exciting and challenging
than a nosewheel aircraft, and more fun than I have had
in years of flying! I would highly recommend this challenge
to any pilot of nose-dragger aircraft - come and see how
much fun this type of flying is, not to mention the amount
of additional aircraft opened up for you to fly!
A huge thanks goes to Jim Cuthill for making my training
such a fun experience, and to Kay for her country hospitality
- I was well looked after with accommodation even being
available at the airfield, at no charge! I have made a
couple of very good new friends there, and Jim is only
too pleased to have a chat and help out on the phone if
I there are any questions.
My hope is that many more pilots will take up the challenge
to get their tailwheel endorsement, and in the process,
sharpen their skills as a pilot, experience the enjoyment
and fun, as well as get hooked on flying these amazing
aircraft... But be warned, it is addictive!
