Great instructor. I do a very similar introduction to tailwheel flight when I do endorsements too. It's important to learn to fly the airplane in the slow flight regine. Don't forget that Storch flight I took you on...Yee Haww!
I learned to fly in a Cessna 140 and soloed in just over 7 hours. A year later, my younger brother started his flying in a Cessna 150 and soloed in just under 7 hours. He said he was better because he soloed in a shorter time. I told him to fly the 140 and let me know who was better. After 10 hours of take off and landing in a Cessna 140 he was able to solo in the 140. He never said he was the better pilot but I know “big brother” was the better. Signed Big Brother
The worst thing about tail wheel planes is the damage to the wing’s from tie down hooks trying to rip themselves out of the wings on windy days. The wings are already trying to lift off at their angle.
IMHO, all basic training, up through SOLO, should be in a taildragger. This training is extremely valuable for ALL pilots! I soloed Aug 8th, 1968 and then transitioned to an Aeronca 7-AC Champ. LOVED THAT CHAMP! Pvt check ride(1969) was in a PA-22-108 Piper Colt. I had spin training as part of my basic training. Ahh......Those were the good days 🙂
I went to tailwheel during my flight training before my first solo and i was having trouble with being lazy on the rudder until I flew tailwheel and it actually improved my directional control and improved my landings now I love tailwheel
This is the most important video I’ve watched in a long time related to Flying. Thanks for sharing this! By the way, I own a Cessna 140 and have never been taught falling leaf stalls and a pro spin demonstrations ever. Eye opening.
Good job on the rudders. I've got about 200 hrs in a C140 from back in the mid 60s flying fire patrol for the TX Forestry Service out of Nacogdoches. When I learned to fly a tail dragger, my instructor always reminded me to have "happy feet"...just before touchdown.
Just got to the end. Easily best non comedy video. Good luck with the flying and the career, the candour you use to illustrate learning new skills will benefit many pilots, and as a result they’ll take on stuff and become better pilots like you.
@10:03, I COMPLETELY agree, the #1 indicator of good pilot skills is how well someone can perform a steep turn. It's an easy maneuver but requires every skill to be letter-perfect.
In 1976, just out of high school I purchased Cessna 120 N76349, 20 serial numbers ahead of the plane you were flying (SN10766). I had about 75 hours TT in nose wheel Cessnas, no TW time. A friend checked me out that had some 140 time. He gave me 1.2 hours of dual then told me to stick to wide runways for the next 10 hours. I put almost 200 hours on that plane in the year I owned it. I had a great summer flying it around the US for 2 months. This plane fly's today in England with registration G-BJML..
I did my PPL in a Citabria in Houston in the 90's. Afterwards, I used to rent a Super Decathalon out of Hobby airport for $92hr wet. I miss those days. Good video man.
Earnt my tailwheel endorsement in this exact plane earlier this year. I walked away feeling like it was the most fun I’ve had while flying in a long time!
My tailwheel instructor had me doing the same maneuvers and just about everything the same as what you show here, it works. Hope you enjoy the tailwheel.
I like all your videos, but this one is extra good. I've been flying tailwheels for over 20 yrs. You know what they say about there being two types of tail wheel pilots and ground loops. There are those who have, and those who will. :-) Great learning experience for you for sure.
Good job for 1st timer in tailwheel. It's something you really have to learn and learn well, almost to the point of it being an instinctive action/reaction. The C120 has a tendancy to bounce on landing because of the landing gears springs. Just something else to get used to. I've got a J3 and have around 500 hrs tailwheel over the years. On the Cub, over last 12 years, have done 1100 take off and landing in it. Even with that, treat it like a 1st timer and doing 3 point, once down *keep the stick/yoke full back* until you're ready to turn off runway. Next, go try in a short coupled plane . Your are really on your toes - No pun intended. Hope you'll do it again.
Well that’s great timing - I will start getting my tailwheel endorsement in the Cessna 140 I just bought in a couple of weeks 🎉 Edit: Just felt a huge amount of gratitude for my CFIs who taught me that specific coordination exercise (which stems from glider flying btw) within my first few lessons together with slow flight and how that affects the amount of aileron and rudder you need for coordinated flight ❤
Yeah I remember the trial flight with the previous owner of my 140 well, it’s a very agile little plane that wants to be actively flown until the last second - keeps you alert and rally in tune with your plane 😊
Read the POH or flight manual for your plane and try it. The Cessna 120/140 (as well as the 170 series) get off the ground faster with neutral controls. To quote the manual: TAKE-OFF: The shortest take-off run can be obtained by keeping the tail low during the whole procedure. The tab can be set to assist in this. With the tail just a little off the ground the wings begin to provide lift quickly. The airplane “breaks ground“ at 40 m.p.h. and accelerates rapidly with complete control. From this point the best rate of climb can be easily established at 73 m.p.h. For a long climb at full throttle 80 to 90 m.p.h. is recommended.
As soon as you said you wouldn't stop mocking taildragger pilots, I thought, "Let's see if his attitude changes after he tries it." :D I got my sign-off in a short-coupled PA-20 Pacer. It really does make you feel like an old-school ace aviator. One of my favorite moves was the extended tail-high touch and go.
That was my favorite of your serious videos easily. One of those things where it wasn't really anything I hadn't heard before, but also eye opening. Looks like fun too 😁
Excellent video Bryan. It is good for everyone to get humbled from time to time. Good work in getting a taste of tail wheel. Keep up the excellent work. Safe skies my friend 🇺🇸🛩️
I saw your eyes during the spin, you kept your composure well, I'd probably sh*t myself, for that reason alone I also want spin training.. Great video!!
Very helpful and informative video! Nice variety for your channel doing a more "serious" video once in awhile. I learned a lot and will practice some of these concepts. Good luck with your next career steps!
Outstanding! I thought tailwheel lessons would be easy, just keep the back wheel in the back where it belongs. It's a lot more than that apparently. I've been in a stall in the turn to final as a passenger. It took me years to start flying again. If we were in the Cessna 120, I'd be posting this from my Dead-Fi connection.
I trained and first-soloed in a tail-dragger (Piper J4), and you definitely could NOT wait for the tail to "automatically" lift on the takeoff roll. You had to push the stick forward as soon as you opened the throttle. You also had to stand on the right rudder to keep the plane on the center line.
Great video! Thank you! OK - I am the least cool one here. I fly my computer - P3D flight sim. But, I have a stick, rudder pedals, and a throttle. I fly A2A aircraft, which are known in the flight simmer community to be just about the ultimate in realism. I can take off and land in the A2A T-6 Texan, but I have to do it a lot in order to retain the feel to keep her on, or at least near, the centerline during roll-out. That thing with the rudder pedals: you have to anticipate in order to stay ahead of the airplane, and like you show in the video, kick a little, then back to neutral, etc., with the happy feet. It's so easy to get that heavy fuselage to swing out beyond the point of no return...
Very interesting - this reminded me that when I was still in my flying days, I always mostly rode the rudders on take-off and landings in my Warrior - not particularly a tail-wheel, but I know it made my flying close to the ground much better. By the way - I never had the guts to do the spin training 🙂
The best example of why taildraggers want to ground loop is the shopping cart analogy. If you push it forward with the handle and let it go, it rolls true (relatively true - it is a shopping cart after all). However, if you push it from the basket end and let it go, it will violently whip around. I learned to fly in a Cub and a Champ but now drive a tricycle gear. Who needs extra stress?
There a lot of subtle things a good instructor is aware of, a good example is when he says "This is going to be a three point landing ATTEMPT." If he had said it was going to be a three point LANDING, subconsciously the student will have a strong tendency to try to land the plane even when it is was going wrong.
Good point about adverse yaw on short final. Rather than using the student's finger for where to look for longitudinal alignment, I tell them to keep the target between their legs. Of course we both know the target will be between our (instructor's) legs as well. We don't have a sight reticle like in the Hueys we flew in Vietnam, but it is mounted in front of one of the pilots and not in the center of the panel. I like the wings level yaw left and right on the runway at near stall airspeed. This, what I call hover taxi, gives student's a several seconds feel of how to maneuver the airplane when all slowed up and ready to squat as Wolfgang says. Slow flight at altitude, while good training, does not give students the feel of flight slower than Vso in low ground effect. And on a normal three point landing, they get this feel only about a second or so. Good stuff. I am 77 and started in Cubs at nine, so I learned from Stick and Rudder before PTS/ACS. I taught in an Aeronca 7AC Champ that rented for $3.00 per hour wet. So the technique I used and best maintains longitudinal alignment is not as optimal in expensive tailwheel airplanes today. As we should not ask a circus performer to not move very much when balancing a broom on his hand, we should not ask students to be so careful with rudder control. I was taught and then taught dynamic proactive rudder only control (walk the rudder pedals) to nail/bracket the centerline on taxi, during precession when bringing the tail up on takeoff, takeoff roll, during P factor when bringing the mains off, short final, and throughout landing and roll out and taxi. The problem now is that we cannot teach dynamic proactive rudder control and ride the controls at the same time. We simply took control if not aligned when in flair and left them alone after. With the slow approach speeds we used, they would not damage anything in a ground loop if they had rolled just 50 feet or so. Once they had experienced a slow ground loop, they most likely wouldn't ever quit moving their feet dynamically and proactively again.
@@JustPlaneSilly Yes, it wasn't much to look at. For cross country I rented their Tri-Pacer for $10.00 per hour wet. I didn't think the Champ was legal, but I didn't ask. I was young and dumb.
Great comment. When I show pilots new to the tailwheel and indeed just a bit timid with anything, I push them to aggressively take control of the aeroplane. To know what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, and be comfortable with the finesse coming later. For others reading, this doesn’t mean flying uncoordinated, or being sloppy with the final turn, it just means properly owning what the aeroplane is doing at all times.
@@TheFleetflyer Beginning to walk children or new bicycle riders use gross dynamic proactive movement for balance. I started tailwheel students with rudder to the stop left right left right etc to keep the taxi line between their legs. They learned both to taxi slowly and that dynamic proactive control movement cares little about the grossness or fineness of movement so long as the movement is dynamic and proactive. Students learn by doing and this technique requires that we instructors talk but not ride the controls. Reactive jabs to yaw/bring the nose (between our legs) back on target is much scarier than walking the rudder pedals. If we nail/bracket the centerline between our legs, the wing cannot bank or is stable in the bank set for side slip crosswind technique. We are better when we move. Coordination of controls is important, but there are places where individual use of rudder, elevator, or dynamic throttle is appropriate. Aileron no so as it is not mounted on the longitudinal axis. And stepping on the ball is not coordination...it is reaction. I use the term lead rudder. Yes, not scientifically correct for coordination. Yes, correct for car driving muscle memory humans. Best to learn to fly before learning to drive.
Back when that plane was new, beginning lessons you would be taught to lift the tail to level to shorten the takeoff distance with less drag during acceleration. Of course most fields back then were short and grass.
I've always associated or likened it to riding a tricycle backwards. The handlebars are the rudders. 😁😁 It's also helpful to look to the side around a 40* angle off the nose. Quick scans like that will make it easier, as most tailwheel offer little to no visibility over the nose.
Regarding spins, how one might accidentally stall, a quartering headwind from the left (if left traffic) from the runway's perspective gets your ground speed up on downwind and tries to push you closer to the runway. Some lack of attention (distraction, fatigue) and you might slow your airspeed without realizing it because it "looks right" and you might get pushed closer to the runway than your normal downwind leg. As you turn base your ground speed would go up more but you subconsciously slow down more. You also bank more to make that turn to the runway. You pull more as you never roll out on base and try to go right to final. And then it stalls. High density altitude makes this scenario worse.
Taildraggers make way more sense on soft fields than paved runways. You still don't turn your brain off in a taildragger on grass, but it is usually far less stressful. I have access to a Cub and a grass strip and landing it is one of the most fun things I do in flying these days. However, every time I land it on a paved runway I always wonder on short final if today is going to be the day I groundloop it, and the plane tries everything it can to make that happen.
Hard to see from that camera angle, but does this plane have those plates that kick the main wheels forward? If so, he should remove them and put the axles back on centerline of the spring gear. Those plates were thought to keep the CG slightly further back to make it handle easier and less likely to tip on the nose, but instead they introduce a torque on the gear and potentially cracking the gearbox..
Yes, this 120 has the gear extenders, but - It's not my plane, I just get to use it. I'm a bit neutral on them. I prefer 120/140s without them, but one has to weigh the gearbox issues with the other known issues of students occasionally flipping them. One is more expensive than the other in general.
The best way to get a lot of tailwheel time is to spend at least a few hours each week just taxiing all over the airport. Putting a Yellow Cab sign on each side will help too. The reason it is on an angle like that is so that it is easier to down some beers before you accidentally accelerate enough to fly. At which point your tailwheel time is over and you will be sad, until you can land and easily drink more beers.
I find it somewhat humorous that almost every airplane built prior to and during WW2, and quite a few for a good while afterwards, were taildraggers. This includes all trainers of which I'm aware, both civvie and military (other than then-new jet trainers). So in the first half century plus of aviation being a thing at all, EVERY pilot was raised from birth to fly taildraggers. Every pilot's 1st experience of flying from day 1 was taildragging. In old (but then new) planes without "the adverse yaw engineered out of them", too. And nobody thought taildraggers were especially difficult because nearly EVERY plane ever up to that point was a taildragger, so nobody knew anything different. Taildraggers were just airplanes to those folks. If you wanted to fly at all, you learned taildragging from day 1. And the prior generations were good at teaching taildragging, as witnessed by the tens of thousands of pilots ginned out by WW2 flight schools _ab initio_ , able to deal with 2000hp single-engine and 8000hp 4-engined taildraggers no problem. That was just their normal. Some of them, in planes with very wide, sturdy main gear, were even taught to groundloop intentionally as an emergency braking method. We are truly lesser sons of mightier fathers nowadays.
If you think about it, landing tail first ought to be really easy. Consider how quickly babies just learning to walk discover that landing on their tail hurts a lot less than landing on their nose. This was my go-to response when people made fun of my Champ for having the little wheel on the right end. I was surprised when Ryan taught starting high-bank turns with aileron then balance it with the rudder. I would stomp the rudder and keep the plane under me with aileron. The Champ was a seriously rudder plane.
Best analogy I heard: flying a tailwheel is like driving a stick shift. It is more engaging and requires more attention from the pilot. Its not impossible to learn, and will make you more focused on TOL. Also you look cooler doing it.
You forgot to show the part about how to ground loop. My Birddog has a checklist line item where it actually says to ground loop the airplane in a particular situation!
Number 1 recognize how not to get into it. If you get into a spin at pattern altitude, you are not getting out of it. If you are close to entering a spin, the response is P.A.R.E. Power: idle Ailerons: neutral (and flaps up) Rudder: full opposite to the spin and held in that position Elevator: forward
I forgot to mention that I really like the acceleration level in low ground effect to 75 mph in the C-140. The basic level in low ground effect to Vcc was my default takeoff, but I was a crop duster and needed the extra free ground effect energy. We do not have to trade precious, when low, airspeed for altitude until at a much safer airspeed than Vx or Vy. I was the first ROTC Cadet to get a Commercial with ROTC Flight. All 36 hours were in the Cessna 140. I also taught in the C-140 at Monte Vista, Colorado summers while my wife attended Adams State at Alamosa. Many times I told students, "If pulling on the yoke doesn't get you the climb you expect, try pushing on it a bit."
I do think too many people do not do a meaningful Biannual review flight and are not current / proficient. I am a tail wheel flier and the do think that a lot of tail wheel pilots make too much of the "It will bite you, so I am a much better pilot than you", side of things but I also do feel that trike pilots get lazy with their feet especially in modem aircraft that require little rudder input during flight. As a pilot who carries out aircraft testing at work, my check flights to keep my "Test flier approval" require unusual attitudes, practice forced landing and flying right up to the edge of the spin. In my last “review flight” the examiner had me fly at max power at very near the stall and the cut the engine on me at the same time he kicked the rudder just enough to make a wing drop, I recovered correctly but it kept me very focused.
There's more to tailwheel style flying than just landing and take offs.... side slips for landing... fwd slips for loosing altitude and speed since most old AC don't have flaps. My CFI starts with about an hour of ground taxi until the feet get use to the activity. learn the MCA! and always maintain directional control!
I find out that no only am I a non-pilot with 1600 hours, I am.......................................a non- pilot flight simmer who can't fly tailwheels. I will practice these tips and keep trying.
I am really sorry about the ads. I can't control how many or how often. I can only turn them off and on. The company I work for went out of business a few months back and so TH-cam is my only source of income. I HATE to make people sit through ads but right now especially, I have to have them turned on. I appreciate you watching in spite of all of the ads. Thank you.
@@JustPlaneSilly Thanks for explaining. I trust you'll make it through this difficult season. I just passed the PAR written using Gold Seal and you're an inspiration, silliness and all!
Congratulations! You are still welcome to bash the bravado of tail wheel pilots. Now, you have an inkling of why some of them are impressed with themselves. I wholeheartedly agree with Ryan on 5 hours of tailwheel time for the commercial ticket. I am a better, more precise pilot because I have tail wheel time. You really develop a good seat of the pants feel for the plane. I can often tell during the takeoff roll in an airliner at the pilot flying has little or no tail dragger time. It does make a difference!
The only way to make sure you don't make adverse inputs is to practice them to muscle memory. And you can only practice them to muscle memory by chair flying. You can't practice turn to final spin to muscle memory. But you can do it a dozen times in your seat or chair, instantly putting in correct upset recovery.
Adverse yaw feels a lot like riding a motorcycle. when you want to turn left you actually start by turning right. The feeling of the bike almost falling out from under you is nearly exactly how adverse yaw feels. (Althought much more prolonged than on a bike)
As a pilot and a motorcyclist, I have had it in my head for years that to initiate a bike turn you have to start the wheel the opposite direction. Counterintuitive on the surface but my physics brain kept hammering it. I never heard anyone so much as discuss it. Until you, Evan. Thanks for the confirmation, the bike metaphor and the plane metaphor!
Be careful. Tail wheel is one thing, but you might get that call from Dan and find yourself in early morning hours with a collective in your left hand 😊
Great instructor. I do a very similar introduction to tailwheel flight when I do endorsements too. It's important to learn to fly the airplane in the slow flight regine. Don't forget that Storch flight I took you on...Yee Haww!
He is a great instructor. By the way, Great to see you here My Friend!
He is a very good flight instructor!
I learned to fly in a Cessna 140 and soloed in just over 7 hours. A year later, my younger brother started his flying in a Cessna 150 and soloed in just under 7 hours. He said he was better because he soloed in a shorter time. I told him to fly the 140 and let me know who was better. After 10 hours of take off and landing in a Cessna 140 he was able to solo in the 140. He never said he was the better pilot but I know “big brother” was the better. Signed Big Brother
I got my TW in a 140; SUPER fun plane.
You can still mock us tailwheel pilots, Bryan. We don’t really care what non-pilots think of us 😂
BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Ouch😁
The worst thing about tail wheel planes is the damage to the wing’s from tie down hooks trying to rip themselves out of the wings on windy days. The wings are already trying to lift off at their angle.
😂😂😂😂
The nostalgia is strong in this one taking me back to flying with my grandpa in his tail dragger. Thanks.
Did my TW in that 120, and it was the most humbling flying I've ever done. Welcome to the club.
IMHO, all basic training, up through SOLO, should be in a taildragger. This training is extremely valuable for ALL pilots! I soloed Aug 8th, 1968 and then transitioned to an Aeronca 7-AC Champ. LOVED THAT CHAMP! Pvt check ride(1969) was in a PA-22-108 Piper Colt. I had spin training as part of my basic training. Ahh......Those were the good days 🙂
It's nice to see you finally in a real airplane.
- a tailwheel pilot
Great video! Small tailwheel planes teach you basic skills so clearly.
Bryan has a natural knack for putting her vertical.
HAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!
I went to tailwheel during my flight training before my first solo and i was having trouble with being lazy on the rudder until I flew tailwheel and it actually improved my directional control and improved my landings now I love tailwheel
This is the most important video I’ve
watched in a long time related to Flying. Thanks for sharing this! By the way, I own a Cessna 140 and have never been taught falling leaf stalls and a pro spin demonstrations ever. Eye opening.
Good job on the rudders. I've got about 200 hrs in a C140 from back in the mid 60s flying fire patrol for the TX Forestry Service out of Nacogdoches. When I learned to fly a tail dragger, my instructor always reminded me to have "happy feet"...just before touchdown.
Just got to the end. Easily best non comedy video. Good luck with the flying and the career, the candour you use to illustrate learning new skills will benefit many pilots, and as a result they’ll take on stuff and become better pilots like you.
Love the 120, great trainer. Enjoy the training. Shoulder harnesses would be a great upgrade.
@10:03, I COMPLETELY agree, the #1 indicator of good pilot skills is how well someone can perform a steep turn. It's an easy maneuver but requires every skill to be letter-perfect.
In 1976, just out of high school I purchased Cessna 120 N76349, 20 serial numbers ahead of the plane you were flying (SN10766). I had about 75 hours TT in nose wheel Cessnas, no TW time. A friend checked me out that had some 140 time. He gave me 1.2 hours of dual then told me to stick to wide runways for the next 10 hours. I put almost 200 hours on that plane in the year I owned it. I had a great summer flying it around the US for 2 months. This plane fly's today in England with registration G-BJML..
I did my PPL in a Citabria in Houston in the 90's. Afterwards, I used to rent a Super Decathalon out of Hobby airport for $92hr wet. I miss those days. Good video man.
Love the Citab
You are taking your trainings to the max in trying it all! Great job!!!!
Earnt my tailwheel endorsement in this exact plane earlier this year. I walked away feeling like it was the most fun I’ve had while flying in a long time!
That's Awesome!!!!
My tailwheel instructor had me doing the same maneuvers and just about everything the same as what you show here, it works. Hope you enjoy the tailwheel.
Great job!! It was awesome that you treated this training seriously. I will share it with my daughter, I’m training her to fly my Cub.
I like all your videos, but this one is extra good. I've been flying tailwheels for over 20 yrs. You know what they say about there being two types of tail wheel pilots and ground loops. There are those who have, and those who will. :-) Great learning experience for you for sure.
I commented a while ago saying I just passed my written. I just passed my checkride! thanks for all of your funny videos
Good job for 1st timer in tailwheel. It's something you really have to learn and learn well, almost to the point of it being an instinctive action/reaction. The C120 has a tendancy to bounce on landing because of the landing gears springs. Just something else to get used to. I've got a J3 and have around 500 hrs tailwheel over the years. On the Cub, over last 12 years, have done 1100 take off and landing in it. Even with that, treat it like a 1st timer and doing 3 point, once down *keep the stick/yoke full back* until you're ready to turn off runway. Next, go try in a short coupled plane . Your are really on your toes - No pun intended. Hope you'll do it again.
Awesome video, you don’t need a fancy airplane to learn these skills. Keep the videos coming!
in fact, best to learn on slower airplanes until proficiency is achieved.
@@SoloRenegadeI learned in a 150,teaches you energy management
Ryan is a great pilot and instructor. I did my first couple tailwheel lessons with him.
Ryan is Awesome! I will fly with him again.
Well that’s great timing - I will start getting my tailwheel endorsement in the Cessna 140 I just bought in a couple of weeks 🎉 Edit: Just felt a huge amount of gratitude for my CFIs who taught me that specific coordination exercise (which stems from glider flying btw) within my first few lessons together with slow flight and how that affects the amount of aileron and rudder you need for coordinated flight ❤
It was so fun. I can't wait to go back and finish the endorsement.
Yeah I remember the trial flight with the previous owner of my 140 well, it’s a very agile little plane that wants to be actively flown until the last second - keeps you alert and rally in tune with your plane 😊
Congrats on the 140!
Looks like you did great! I learnt using controls full forward on takeoff. Probably just a preference thing… fun stuff!
Read the POH or flight manual for your plane and try it. The Cessna 120/140 (as well as the 170 series) get off the ground faster with neutral controls.
To quote the manual: TAKE-OFF: The shortest take-off run can be obtained by keeping the tail low during the whole procedure. The tab can be set to assist in this. With the tail just a little off the ground the wings begin to provide lift quickly. The airplane “breaks ground“ at 40 m.p.h. and accelerates rapidly with complete control. From this point the best rate of climb can be easily established at 73 m.p.h. For a long climb at full throttle 80 to 90 m.p.h. is recommended.
Gotta get that tailwheel up out of the dirt!
As soon as you said you wouldn't stop mocking taildragger pilots, I thought, "Let's see if his attitude changes after he tries it." :D
I got my sign-off in a short-coupled PA-20 Pacer. It really does make you feel like an old-school ace aviator. One of my favorite moves was the extended tail-high touch and go.
"So you see how that immediately put her almost vertical?" [yes.] -----LOL
Great video, thanks for sharing, Bryan!
Ryan is a great instructor. Thanks for the video.
That was my favorite of your serious videos easily. One of those things where it wasn't really anything I hadn't heard before, but also eye opening. Looks like fun too 😁
Great video. Planting the seeds to consider tailwheel training sooner rather than later.
Excellent video and excellent instructor.
The best thing I’ve done was a spin in my airplane. I plan to take spin training as I’ve never done that. Might be interested in basic aerobatics
That was fun and informative. Really made me want to go get some tailwheel time.
Excellent video Bryan. It is good for everyone to get humbled from time to time. Good work in getting a taste of tail wheel. Keep up the excellent work. Safe skies my friend 🇺🇸🛩️
I saw your eyes during the spin, you kept your composure well, I'd probably sh*t myself, for that reason alone I also want spin training.. Great video!!
It wasn't a spin. The stall went incipient, but the rotation was stopped very, very quickly.
Very helpful and informative video! Nice variety for your channel doing a more "serious" video once in awhile. I learned a lot and will practice some of these concepts. Good luck with your next career steps!
Outstanding! I thought tailwheel lessons would be easy, just keep the back wheel in the back where it belongs. It's a lot more than that apparently. I've been in a stall in the turn to final as a passenger. It took me years to start flying again. If we were in the Cessna 120, I'd be posting this from my Dead-Fi connection.
Love it! Just has to share on my website!
Please and thank you!
Fly safe friend!
@@JustPlaneSilly Keep up the great work!
Thank you Bryan. That was a GREAT video!!
Thank you.
It will be even more satisfying when you land a TD in a cross wind, and you have to touch down one wheel , with wing down.
Good for you, Bryan! Had no idea those little tail draggers were so difficult to fly.
Excellent CFI!
This video is so good that pilots should be able to get FAA Wings credit just for watching.
Nice
Great content..!
Excellent video. 40 of my 50 hours of tail wheel time are in 120 and 140's.
Great video. Thanks!
Looked challenging - but very cool!
Great video!
I trained and first-soloed in a tail-dragger (Piper J4), and you definitely could NOT wait for the tail to "automatically" lift on the takeoff roll. You had to push the stick forward as soon as you opened the throttle. You also had to stand on the right rudder to keep the plane on the center line.
Yeah, that's a different airplane with different characteristics.
There is a lot to learn in this video, even if you never intend to fly tail wheel.
exactly, many of thee skills also still apply to trikes.
Great video! Thank you! OK - I am the least cool one here. I fly my computer - P3D flight sim. But, I have a stick, rudder pedals, and a throttle. I fly A2A aircraft, which are known in the flight simmer community to be just about the ultimate in realism. I can take off and land in the A2A T-6 Texan, but I have to do it a lot in order to retain the feel to keep her on, or at least near, the centerline during roll-out. That thing with the rudder pedals: you have to anticipate in order to stay ahead of the airplane, and like you show in the video, kick a little, then back to neutral, etc., with the happy feet. It's so easy to get that heavy fuselage to swing out beyond the point of no return...
Very interesting - this reminded me that when I was still in my flying days, I always mostly rode the rudders on take-off and landings in my Warrior - not particularly a tail-wheel, but I know it made my flying close to the ground much better. By the way - I never had the guts to do the spin training 🙂
The best example of why taildraggers want to ground loop is the shopping cart analogy. If you push it forward with the handle and let it go, it rolls true (relatively true - it is a shopping cart after all). However, if you push it from the basket end and let it go, it will violently whip around. I learned to fly in a Cub and a Champ but now drive a tricycle gear. Who needs extra stress?
There a lot of subtle things a good instructor is aware of, a good example is when he says "This is going to be a three point landing ATTEMPT." If he had said it was going to be a three point LANDING, subconsciously the student will have a strong tendency to try to land the plane even when it is was going wrong.
Good point about adverse yaw on short final. Rather than using the student's finger for where to look for longitudinal alignment, I tell them to keep the target between their legs. Of course we both know the target will be between our (instructor's) legs as well. We don't have a sight reticle like in the Hueys we flew in Vietnam, but it is mounted in front of one of the pilots and not in the center of the panel.
I like the wings level yaw left and right on the runway at near stall airspeed. This, what I call hover taxi, gives student's a several seconds feel of how to maneuver the airplane when all slowed up and ready to squat as Wolfgang says. Slow flight at altitude, while good training, does not give students the feel of flight slower than Vso in low ground effect. And on a normal three point landing, they get this feel only about a second or so. Good stuff.
I am 77 and started in Cubs at nine, so I learned from Stick and Rudder before PTS/ACS. I taught in an Aeronca 7AC Champ that rented for $3.00 per hour wet. So the technique I used and best maintains longitudinal alignment is not as optimal in expensive tailwheel airplanes today. As we should not ask a circus performer to not move very much when balancing a broom on his hand, we should not ask students to be so careful with rudder control. I was taught and then taught dynamic proactive rudder only control (walk the rudder pedals) to nail/bracket the centerline on taxi, during precession when bringing the tail up on takeoff, takeoff roll, during P factor when bringing the mains off, short final, and throughout landing and roll out and taxi. The problem now is that we cannot teach dynamic proactive rudder control and ride the controls at the same time. We simply took control if not aligned when in flair and left them alone after. With the slow approach speeds we used, they would not damage anything in a ground loop if they had rolled just 50 feet or so. Once they had experienced a slow ground loop, they most likely wouldn't ever quit moving their feet dynamically and proactively again.
$3 an hour wet!!!!!
@@JustPlaneSilly Yes, it wasn't much to look at. For cross country I rented their Tri-Pacer for $10.00 per hour wet. I didn't think the Champ was legal, but I didn't ask. I was young and dumb.
Great comment. When I show pilots new to the tailwheel and indeed just a bit timid with anything, I push them to aggressively take control of the aeroplane. To know what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, and be comfortable with the finesse coming later. For others reading, this doesn’t mean flying uncoordinated, or being sloppy with the final turn, it just means properly owning what the aeroplane is doing at all times.
@@TheFleetflyer Beginning to walk children or new bicycle riders use gross dynamic proactive movement for balance. I started tailwheel students with rudder to the stop left right left right etc to keep the taxi line between their legs. They learned both to taxi slowly and that dynamic proactive control movement cares little about the grossness or fineness of movement so long as the movement is dynamic and proactive. Students learn by doing and this technique requires that we instructors talk but not ride the controls. Reactive jabs to yaw/bring the nose (between our legs) back on target is much scarier than walking the rudder pedals. If we nail/bracket the centerline between our legs, the wing cannot bank or is stable in the bank set for side slip crosswind technique. We are better when we move.
Coordination of controls is important, but there are places where individual use of rudder, elevator, or dynamic throttle is appropriate. Aileron no so as it is not mounted on the longitudinal axis. And stepping on the ball is not coordination...it is reaction. I use the term lead rudder. Yes, not scientifically correct for coordination. Yes, correct for car driving muscle memory humans. Best to learn to fly before learning to drive.
Flying a tailwheel doesn’t make you a real pilot, it makes you a better pilot.
Are you beginning to understand our conceit now, just a little bit, Bryan? 🤣. I detected a hint of fear in your eyes on landing. 😂. Welcome !!
HAHA!!! Yes but I may pretend otherwise!
@@JustPlaneSilly. I must say that your first landings looked pretty darned good. You’ll be one of us soon! 💕
Awesome video thanks
You should try the Lindbergh reference when you can’t see references in front of you. It works for taxing, or in flight when you climb.
Back when that plane was new, beginning lessons you would be taught to lift the tail to level to shorten the takeoff distance with less drag during acceleration. Of course most fields back then were short and grass.
Meh, look at the C-120's flight manual.
9:30 Cherokee 55J getting stepped on by 14W. I know it’s not the same planes, but I’ve flown in a 55J and a 14W up here in WI
For a really good practical demonstration of why a tailwheel airplane likes to ground loop, push a shopping cart backwards.
I've always associated or likened it to riding a tricycle backwards. The handlebars are the rudders. 😁😁
It's also helpful to look to the side around a 40* angle off the nose. Quick scans like that will make it easier, as most tailwheel offer little to no visibility over the nose.
Congratulations and welcome to finally becoming a real pilot!!!
Regarding spins, how one might accidentally stall, a quartering headwind from the left (if left traffic) from the runway's perspective gets your ground speed up on downwind and tries to push you closer to the runway. Some lack of attention (distraction, fatigue) and you might slow your airspeed without realizing it because it "looks right" and you might get pushed closer to the runway than your normal downwind leg. As you turn base your ground speed would go up more but you subconsciously slow down more. You also bank more to make that turn to the runway. You pull more as you never roll out on base and try to go right to final. And then it stalls. High density altitude makes this scenario worse.
Taildraggers make way more sense on soft fields than paved runways. You still don't turn your brain off in a taildragger on grass, but it is usually far less stressful. I have access to a Cub and a grass strip and landing it is one of the most fun things I do in flying these days. However, every time I land it on a paved runway I always wonder on short final if today is going to be the day I groundloop it, and the plane tries everything it can to make that happen.
I experiance the exact same thing. Grass strips are easier, but still have to be acutely aware, expecially in a 90* crosswind.
My only tailwheel time was wig wagging Dad's Pawnee back n forth between the fuel pumps and his loading area & hangar! Lol
Hard to see from that camera angle, but does this plane have those plates that kick the main wheels forward? If so, he should remove them and put the axles back on centerline of the spring gear. Those plates were thought to keep the CG slightly further back to make it handle easier and less likely to tip on the nose, but instead they introduce a torque on the gear and potentially cracking the gearbox..
Yes, this 120 has the gear extenders, but - It's not my plane, I just get to use it. I'm a bit neutral on them. I prefer 120/140s without them, but one has to weigh the gearbox issues with the other known issues of students occasionally flipping them. One is more expensive than the other in general.
Bryan, it’s like pushing a grocery buggy or riding a tricycle backwards…..
Simple! :)
The best way to get a lot of tailwheel time is to spend at least a few hours each week just taxiing all over the airport. Putting a Yellow Cab sign on each side will help too.
The reason it is on an angle like that is so that it is easier to down some beers before you accidentally accelerate enough to fly. At which point your tailwheel time is over and you will be sad, until you can land and easily drink more beers.
Love falling leaves. Great coordination exercise
Good point, but still hard to get students to stay off the steering wheel on short final.
I find it somewhat humorous that almost every airplane built prior to and during WW2, and quite a few for a good while afterwards, were taildraggers. This includes all trainers of which I'm aware, both civvie and military (other than then-new jet trainers). So in the first half century plus of aviation being a thing at all, EVERY pilot was raised from birth to fly taildraggers. Every pilot's 1st experience of flying from day 1 was taildragging. In old (but then new) planes without "the adverse yaw engineered out of them", too. And nobody thought taildraggers were especially difficult because nearly EVERY plane ever up to that point was a taildragger, so nobody knew anything different. Taildraggers were just airplanes to those folks. If you wanted to fly at all, you learned taildragging from day 1. And the prior generations were good at teaching taildragging, as witnessed by the tens of thousands of pilots ginned out by WW2 flight schools _ab initio_ , able to deal with 2000hp single-engine and 8000hp 4-engined taildraggers no problem. That was just their normal. Some of them, in planes with very wide, sturdy main gear, were even taught to groundloop intentionally as an emergency braking method. We are truly lesser sons of mightier fathers nowadays.
If you think about it, landing tail first ought to be really easy. Consider how quickly babies just learning to walk discover that landing on their tail hurts a lot less than landing on their nose. This was my go-to response when people made fun of my Champ for having the little wheel on the right end. I was surprised when Ryan taught starting high-bank turns with aileron then balance it with the rudder. I would stomp the rudder and keep the plane under me with aileron. The Champ was a seriously rudder plane.
N2106V, my first airplane
Best analogy I heard: flying a tailwheel is like driving a stick shift. It is more engaging and requires more attention from the pilot. Its not impossible to learn, and will make you more focused on TOL. Also you look cooler doing it.
You forgot to show the part about how to ground loop. My Birddog has a checklist line item where it actually says to ground loop the airplane in a particular situation!
Finally you fly a real airplane. 😅.
So, if you’re flying low and encounter that spin they were talking about, how do you recover without crashing?
Number 1 recognize how not to get into it. If you get into a spin at pattern altitude, you are not getting out of it.
If you are close to entering a spin, the response is P.A.R.E.
Power: idle
Ailerons: neutral (and flaps up)
Rudder: full opposite to the spin and held in that position
Elevator: forward
Bryan - "I give myself a B-minus."
CFI - * silence *
HAHA!
I forgot to mention that I really like the acceleration level in low ground effect to 75 mph in the C-140. The basic level in low ground effect to Vcc was my default takeoff, but I was a crop duster and needed the extra free ground effect energy. We do not have to trade precious, when low, airspeed for altitude until at a much safer airspeed than Vx or Vy. I was the first ROTC Cadet to get a Commercial with ROTC Flight. All 36 hours were in the Cessna 140. I also taught in the C-140 at Monte Vista, Colorado summers while my wife attended Adams State at Alamosa. Many times I told students, "If pulling on the yoke doesn't get you the climb you expect, try pushing on it a bit."
Can't wait to get some time in a "tailie"
Don't scare people, it's not hard. It's just something new you learn.
I noticed that you tend to close one eye in some turns. Wondering what that does for you ?
Looks like mainly to keep the sun out lol
Well that could be for sure. Saw it was sunny. I enjoyed this. Hope to see he pursues the tailwheel.
Serious advice, on my favorite aviation commedy channel!! how peculiar?!?!?
I do think too many people do not do a meaningful Biannual review flight and are not current / proficient. I am a tail wheel flier and the do think that a lot of tail wheel pilots make too much of the "It will bite you, so I am a much better pilot than you", side of things but I also do feel that trike pilots get lazy with their feet especially in modem aircraft that require little rudder input during flight. As a pilot who carries out aircraft testing at work, my check flights to keep my "Test flier approval" require unusual attitudes, practice forced landing and flying right up to the edge of the spin. In my last “review flight” the examiner had me fly at max power at very near the stall and the cut the engine on me at the same time he kicked the rudder just enough to make a wing drop, I recovered correctly but it kept me very focused.
There's more to tailwheel style flying than just landing and take offs.... side slips for landing... fwd slips for loosing altitude and speed since most old AC don't have flaps. My CFI starts with about an hour of ground taxi until the feet get use to the activity. learn the MCA! and always maintain directional control!
I find out that no only am I a non-pilot with 1600 hours, I am.......................................a non- pilot flight simmer who can't fly tailwheels. I will practice these tips and keep trying.
Once it’s off the ground it’s NOT a normal aeroplane. It’s cooler.
The hardest part of tailwheel flying is maintaining the mystique in the flying club bar.
This is a great video, but it 's hard to watch with an ad every 2 or 3 minutes. Yeah, ad blockers, can't do that on my phone.
I am really sorry about the ads. I can't control how many or how often. I can only turn them off and on. The company I work for went out of business a few months back and so TH-cam is my only source of income. I HATE to make people sit through ads but right now especially, I have to have them turned on. I appreciate you watching in spite of all of the ads. Thank you.
@@JustPlaneSilly Thanks for explaining. I trust you'll make it through this difficult season. I just passed the PAR written using Gold Seal and you're an inspiration, silliness and all!
Congratulations! You are still welcome to bash the bravado of tail wheel pilots. Now, you have an inkling of why some of them are impressed with themselves.
I wholeheartedly agree with Ryan on 5 hours of tailwheel time for the commercial ticket. I am a better, more precise pilot because I have tail wheel time. You really develop a good seat of the pants feel for the plane. I can often tell during the takeoff roll in an airliner at the pilot flying has little or no tail dragger time. It does make a difference!
The other kicker is, I don't think the 120 has rudder aileron interconnect like most of the Pipers do! You really have to fly that plane!
The only way to make sure you don't make adverse inputs is to practice them to muscle memory. And you can only practice them to muscle memory by chair flying. You can't practice turn to final spin to muscle memory. But you can do it a dozen times in your seat or chair, instantly putting in correct upset recovery.
Adverse yaw feels a lot like riding a motorcycle. when you want to turn left you actually start by turning right. The feeling of the bike almost falling out from under you is nearly exactly how adverse yaw feels. (Althought much more prolonged than on a bike)
As a pilot and a motorcyclist, I have had it in my head for years that to initiate a bike turn you have to start the wheel the opposite direction. Counterintuitive on the surface but my physics brain kept hammering it. I never heard anyone so much as discuss it. Until you, Evan. Thanks for the confirmation, the bike metaphor and the plane metaphor!
If you can fly a taildragger, you can fly anything. If you can land and takeoff in a taildragger with heavy crosswinds on a hard surface, you’re God
Be careful. Tail wheel is one thing, but you might get that call from Dan and find yourself in early morning hours with a collective in your left hand 😊
NEVER!
If you make it to the airlines I’ll never fly commercial again.
I will let you know when my class date is. Happy driving.
Now try an Air Tractor! The prop is about 8 feet in front of you!