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bobcat999

Tail Draggers... Why?..

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17 minutes ago, sd_flyer said:

if you flown both you would know

I have never flown a tail dragger, except in the sin world. In most cases, if you learned to fly in a tail dragger you tend to favor them. If you learned in tricycle gear you tend to favor them. And when it comes to better stick and rudder skill try a Helicopter.:smile:

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Is it also true that a taildragger will often have slightly better takeoff performance than an equivalent tricycle aircraft, due to the angle of incidence of the wing?

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Rhett

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7 minutes ago, jpc55 said:

And when it comes to better stick and rudder skill try a Helicopter.:smile:

Truth! Not a perfect correlation, but I have 2 clients that started in helicopters. Rudder control has been a non-issue with both of them.


Chris

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7 minutes ago, jpc55 said:

I have never flown a tail dragger, except in the sin world. In most cases, if you learned to fly in a tail dragger you tend to favor them. If you learned in tricycle gear you tend to favor them. And when it comes to better stick and rudder skill try a Helicopter.:smile:

It also depends on what you're doing with it. Taxiing around a very busy airport before a normal flight? Yeah, gimme the nose wheel so I can see without doing S-turns. Landing on a sandbar in a middle of nowhere Alaska river? A nose wheel is just waiting for a chance to dig in and break stuff.

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Mace said:

Is it also true that a taildragger will often have slightly better takeoff performance than an equivalent tricycle aircraft, due to the angle of incidence of the wing?

Interesting question. If it truly is the same airframe with the only difference being conventional vs tricycle gear, the angle of incidence (angle between the longitudinal axis of the plane and the chordline of the wing) should be the same. Angle of attack might tend to be slightly higher in a tailwheel if the pilot doesn't raise the tail during the takeoff roll. Either way, the pilot is able to control much of that. I would venture to guess that the most significant difference would come from the decreased weight and the center of gravity being more aft in the tailwheel plane.


Chris

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36 minutes ago, jpc55 said:

I have never flown a tail dragger, except in the sin world. In most cases, if you learned to fly in a tail dragger you tend to favor them. If you learned in tricycle gear you tend to favor them. And when it comes to better stick and rudder skill try a Helicopter.:smile:

This is wrong assumption. I have learn to fly in tricycle gear airplanes.Not until finishing my private I tried taildraggers I don't favor either but I know for sure taildragger requires better stick and rudder skills.

Helicopter is complete different topics. I had experience transitioning rotary pilots to fixed wing aircraft, so I'm aware of skill set helicopter pilots 


flight sim addict, airplane owner, CFI

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Because in MP events it's fun to watch people flip over cause they forget they are in a taildragger when landing, most of the time. In a flight sim, they are just FUN! The X-Cub is my favorite MSFS aircraft. But to each his own. Why there is such a variety in the sim. To give people a choice. You know I never even thought about the prop clearance, but it makes total sense.


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Just tried some taildragger practice in the XCUB. Good lord it's difficult to land 🥵

Feel more like a kangaroo than a bush pilot. It's embarrasing really. Trying to land on main wheels then sort of let the tail wheel settle. It is very counter-intuitive 😨

Any pro tip?


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No doubt at all that taildraggers are preferred for handling certain types of terrain, though tricycle gear aircraft are also used in the bush.  I learned to fly out of a turf field - most flying there done with tricycle gear aircraft, though there were a few taildraggers around (one of my instructors had a Cessna 140).

When flying off a turf field (many of which are fairly wide) you learn how to navigate the terrain regardless of the type of gear.  For instance, you learn to not land in mud puddles and ruts.  Relaxing outside the hangar one day we observed a Civil Air Patrol Tri-Pacer come in to land (or for a T&G).  As it was in the Spring we still had a fairly large area of mud in the center of the strip - of course, none of us would land in it.  The CAP pilot was either not familiar with turf field procedures or wasn't thinking and did a beautiful flare right in the center of the strip - touching down in the middle of the mud.  The aircraft just immediately stopped - period.  It went right over onto its back.  The 3 shocked occupants were left hanging in their straps.  Everyone was OK.

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Randall Rocke

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Think you can fly, try the A2A Texan in P3D in a crosswind. 

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BOBSK8             MSFS 2020 ,    ,PMDG 737-600-800PMDG DC6 , A2A Comanche, Fenix A320,    Milviz C 310 ,  FSLTL  

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1 hour ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Just tried some taildragger practice in the XCUB. Good lord it's difficult to land 🥵

Feel more like a kangaroo than a bush pilot. It's embarrasing really. Trying to land on main wheels then sort of let the tail wheel settle. It is very counter-intuitive 😨

Any pro tip?

Don't try to land with an Angle of Attack like in a 152 or 172. You need to touch the ground with all three wheels at the same time, stalling. When braking, pull the yoke back further and further to firmly press the tail wheel on the ground.

 

If you want to land with a low AoA on two wheels, do it very, very, very gentle. Don't brake much until your tail wheel is on the ground and you can pull back. Else you might ruin your propeller. 

Edited by crimplene

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46 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

Think you can fly, try the A2A Texan in P3D in a crosswind. 

Why?😐

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8 minutes ago, jpc55 said:

Why?😐

Try it, you will see why. 

 


 

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14 minutes ago, crimplene said:

Don't try to land with an Angle of Attack like in a 152 or 172.

I seem to be improving. Had several successful landings with a slightly nose down to level attitude. Low speed certainly is not a disadvantage 😉 Have to remember to not "stand on the brakes" until the plane stops - or I get a prop strike. At least in the X-Cub.


i9-12900KF @ 5.1GHz | MSI Trio Gaming X RTX4090 | MSI MPG Z690 Carbon EK X | G.Skill Trident Z5 32GB DDR5 | WD Black SN850 2TB SSD | Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB SSD | 2x Samsung 960 EVO 500GB SSDs | Hela 850R Platinum PCIe 5.0 w/ 12VHPWR cable | Corsair RM750X | LG 77" OLED 3840x2160 | Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog | MFG Crosswind pedals | Thrustmaster TCA Captain Pack X Airbus Edition

“Intensify the forward batteries. I don’t want anything to get through”

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