An Old Airplane Mentors A Young Pilot

[sidestick stirrer]

If we learn the most from the oldest contributors to this forum, perhaps it is more than a coincidence that it takes an older airplane to give us a wake-up call about our piloting skills, in a most-violent and unforgettable way by combining a short-but-intense assault upon several of our senses simultaneously.

A moment's inattention, a distraction, a subtle relaxation of vigilance or slipping of standards to that which will not matter in a more-forgiving airplane, will give this older airplane just the chance it has been waiting for and it will smack you in the side of the head with its wood, metal or plexiglass just as effectively as a slap up the side of your head with a two-by-four will instantly and unforgettably teach you not to do that again.

While my first attempt to bank Ted's Aeronca Champ, using the same amount of rudder that my Cub would need, resulted in the most-astonishing amount of adverse yaw I had ever seen, causing the nose to slice in the opposite direction so quickly that my big head did indeed bounce off the side window, what I wish to relate here was actually a different lesson.

When I bought my Cub, I had never flown a taildragger. The owner took me around the pattern at Kingston three times, took my certified cheque and drove away. I taxied to the pumps, "tanked up" that 10(12?)-gallon tank and flew it to its new home at Brampton. Took two stops with no headwind, I don't think I overtook even a semi.

Surprisingly, nothing happened for several weeks and I began to relax, thinking either that taildraggers' reputations were overblown or- more likely at the age of twenty five-that I was a pretty-good driver despite what my instructors had predicted about my future.

However, I was soon to learn that little flying machine was just biding its time, like a stalking cat, waiting for the opportunity to teach me My Big Lesson.

It happened while landing to the North on Brampton's paved runway one Summer evening at Sunset, with just a hint of a wind from the South, not enough to require any conscious crabbing into it nor enough to stir the dozy windsock.

The windsock wasn't the only thing dozing that evening.

We gently touched in a three-point attitude and instantly control of the airplane was snatched away from me as the Cub decided now was The Time. Three things happened simultaneously, one for each of three of my senses, which I must say adds to the experience.

My view out the front changed from a few dusky trees topped by a rosy sky to a complete blur in a flash, like facing outwards on a merry-go-round. I was thrown sideways until hitting my shoulder but my head continued until my ear smacked against something hard too. And lastly, I remember the sound, heard right through my foamy earplugs( NORDO). I didn't think those big, puffy, eight-psi tyres could squeal so loudly but one certainly was. Not only was the horizon spinning around but it was also tilting as the Cub raised her inside main wheel off the ground and it was also rising as the tail came up and the nose ( and propellor!) were going down, all in response to the unchecked centrifugal force. Had the wings not been clipped, it would surely have dragged a wingtip.

The Lesson was over in two seconds, as long as it took for the unbalanced forward force of momentum and retarding force of the main gear to align themselves one hundred and eighty degrees to what they were on landing, like the letter "Z" pulled into a straight line. Plus a few more degrees of rotation for the centrifugal force to dissipate. The Cub stopped rotating, the inner main wheel plopped back down followed soon after by the tailwheel slamming onto the ground, which slammed me back into that pathetic canvas sling that passes for a seat in Cubs.

We just sat there, still. The little Continental making happy clanking sounds at idle, the polished blade strobing the pink Sun as it touched the horizon. It had happened so quickly and caught me so unprepared that there was no time to react or get frightened, I doubt that I even had time to hold my breath. Lesson over, the Cub just sat there, on the surface appearing to be waiting for me to put it away for the night but, maybe on a deeper level, asking me, "Do you hear me? Did you get my message? I will not-cannot- tolerate being flown by such ham-fisted, fat-headed, feet-and-brains-gone-to-sleep "pilots", of which you presently are one."

Presently, we taxied meekly to the tiedown, the Cub very obedient but perhaps just a little smug, while my legs vibrated like two tuning forks from the squirt of adrenaline that had arrived much-too late to the party. Suitably cowed, I drove home with a bruised shoulder and ego( not a bad thing, that) sporting an ear that throbbed and felt like a cauliflower. If I had a tail, I would have curled it well under my legs, too.

So: what was The Lesson? As near as I can figure, it was the Cub telling me that-if I insisted on landing it on modern pavement instead of the grass and dandelions that it preferred-then there must be absolutely no difference between where it was pointed and where it was actually going the moment that it touched down. The fact that it was soloed from the rear seat so we couldn't actually discern this now very-important bit of information just made it more sporting.

Not being a complete idiot, I invested in some quality dual with the late Frank Jenkinsen before being properly released to fly solo again.

Still, there's something funny about taildraggers. Even though My Big Lesson happened thirty-nine years ago, every now and then, without any reason or provocation, after a perfectly-acceptable, routine touchdown, they will suddenly try to charge off, maybe to attack a runway-edge light that that they have taken a dislike to or perhaps to go play in their beloved grassy infield. They've never succeeded as I learned from My Big Lesson, taught to me by an airplane and not by an instructor, because now I know and I am expecting it. Or maybe it's just the older airplane's way of checking that I am still deserving of it, that my skills are still up to snuff. I must say that I appreciate the surprise PPC and that I am a better on my toes for the experience.

I do not mean to denigrate helicopter or floatplane pilots when suggesting that I cannot think of any airplane that can so improve an average pilot's skill level in such a short time as can a taildragger.

"That which doesn't kill us makes us..." How does that end again?

[Cat Driver]

Now that was an awesome post!!!

[sidestick stirrer]

Hi praise indeed and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
But, wait; is that a flame I hear being sparked into life by someone else?

[Rookie50]

Awesome. You should write an article.

[Cat Driver]

But, wait; is that a flame I hear being sparked into life by someone else?

Reading about a Cub always brings out the memories of the start of my flying career in the crop dusting days.

I had a Cub project at home and just could not finish it after Pene died so I found a young eager pilot engineer that is finishing building it and when it is finished we will be equal partners in it.....for me it is a good deal and for him it is a good deal.

I might even renew my medical when it is finished, I let it lapse about a year and a half ago.

Hell I still feel young enough to start a new career.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Great post sidestick. A taildragger can indeed be a great pilot humbilator as I also found out early in my taildragging days as a low time PPL.

I still remember the calm voice from the tower after I departed the side of the runway and came to an inglorious stop on the adjacent parallel taxiway. "XYZ are you OK ?" Yessir I meekly replied" OK then while most pilots prefer to use taxiway golf to exit the runway I guess your method works too "

[lownslow]

These old airplanes must have some kind of universal training standard, I got the exact same lesson from a Tiger Moth once.

[AirFrame]

While I have yet to groundloop an airplane, a Cessna 140 did spend a few hours teaching me how not to land a taildragger.

I remember one particularly frustrating lesson that consisted of an hour of short 600' circuits while I tried to get the d*mn thing to land without turning into a bucking sea serpent. None of the landings were dangerous, none were particularly rough on the airplane (I did know enough to reject the landing before it got out of hand), but for the life of me I couldn't put it down smoothly, no matter whether I was trying three-point, wheel, or one wing down in a slight crosswind.

At the end of the hour, my instructor said on downwind, "well, I guess we'd better stop for the day, and try again next time". I wholeheartedly agreed, and then proceeded to make a wheel landing... The smoothness and perfection of which I don't think I have repeated so dramatically since.

[sidestick stirrer]

Great to hear BPF and your tale made me laugh.
At least My Lesson happened at a deserted, quiet airfield.
I should have thanked the Cub for not making the event more embarrassing than it was...

[PilotDAR]

Great post SS. All should read...

As recently as a month ago, I landed the Teal on the pavement, a little bit of crosswind, so pedal, more pedal, full pedal, that's good it's straight.... At that moment the tailwheel touched, and I guess unlocked, because as I slowed to a walking pace, with still some pedal in, I had no steering. As rudder became ineffective at very low speed, and the gentle crosswind prevailed, the plane found it's own happy direction. No harm done, but lesson learned - I think - perhaps I should have set the tail down a little earlier, and eased off on the rudder, to be sure I had effective steering. I'm still thinking about that one....

The DC-3 taught me a few things, though with more time, it would teach me much more, I know. Not a plane for the eager know it all pilot - respect DC-3's! I had to check myself out in the Tiger Moth a couple of years back. I just took it directly to the grass runway, I was not even going to risk pavement in it! We got along just fine - as I dictated the conditions for each flight!

On the other extreme, the Grand Caravan - start it correctly, care for the engine, and what could be easier! But then, it's designed to a much different standard, and market (pilot skill). I could not find a vice in that plane, and it was my job to look!

Old airplane mentors a young pilot.... Ain't that the truth!

[sidestick stirrer]

Lownslow:
Did your Big Lesson happen on pavement or grass?
I cannot imagine riding through one of these events in a low-wing airframe...

[trey kule]

Great post SS.

As an aside, having checked out many pilots on taildraggers over the years, the delay in getting the lesson is fairly typical. I think people are initially nervous from hearing all the horror stories, and after a few hours start to think it is no biggie andget complacent.

In any event that was a very well written post....you should submit it to flying magazine for their "i learned about flying" column.

Tks.

[sidestick stirrer]

Funny that you should suggest that, TK.
I actually have had Flying magazine publish one of my scribblings, unfortunately it was in the
" I Learned About Flying From That" column.
Something about a very-wild ride in an out-of-control, uncowled Pitt's Special at Buttonville...
It's a wonder how I lived this long, I've done a few really-stupid things in and around airplanes.
Only a couple of months ago, I had a propellor blade clip me behind the ear, took five stitches to put me back together.
But, then again, I always was a slow learner...

[trey kule]

It's a wonder how I lived this long, I've done a few really-stupid things in and around airplanes.

Its not an exclusive club if we were all honest.

I actually did mean to suggest the column you mentioned.

For us who are long in the tooth, it is not what we know, it is what we have forgotten.
I spend alot of time on this forum because I am not current anymore on piston aircraft or taildraggers. Your story was a good reminder of that

[AirFrame]

Only a couple of months ago, I had a propellor blade clip me behind the ear, took five stitches to put me back together.

I was wondering when that would come up...

[Cat Driver]

Complacency can for sure result in lack of control during a landing in a tail wheel airplane.

I have to be careful how I word my posts so as not to look like I am pounding my own ego drum, so this story is only to point out that things can go very wrong even when you are trying to be alert to what is happening.

I have never completely lost control of a tail wheel airplane during a landing but there was one time that we went off both sides of the runway before safe control was regained.

I was checking a Twin Otter float plane pilot out on the Turbo Goose and on our first runway landing he reefed the levers into reverse just as we touched the runway, the loss of directional control was instantaneous because the right prop went into reverse before the left one.

The ride was breathtaking as the airplane swerved off the runway, back on the runway and off the other side before I finally got the beast under control directionally safely back on the runway.

Thank God the grass on both sides of the runway was smooth and all we suffered was wet pants.

Moral to this story?

Regardless of how confident we may be of our ability to fly anything it can and will get out of control sometimes when something very unusual occurs.

Selecting reverse in a Turbo Goose at touch down on a paved runway can make a Pitts Special look like a Cessna 172.

[lownslow]

Lownslow:
Did your Big Lesson happen on pavement or grass?

Pavement. I caught it after 15-20 degrees with all the rudder, aileron and brake I had so I just went shooting off the edge of the runway at an angle. In my case it was years before I ventured onto pavement with a taildragger again.

In hindsight, that last bit was dumb. It's not the fault of the airplane of the surface I landed on, it was 100% operator error. I should have done a pile of circuits on unforgiving asphalt as soon as I knew I had a gap in my skills. Instead I went out and flew a couple thousand hours in other things which seems to have helped a lot but was by no means the most efficient way to learn.

[Old Dog Flying]

Great story Scott.. I too was taught a lesson in inattention in a Tiger Moth while landing on pavement with light winds. A hot summer day with the canopy closed and moments after touch-down flipped the wee canopy latches instead of paying attention and that beast went around so fast that I could not count the rotations..

Besides my teenaged ego, the only damage was a bit of fabric and paint ground off of the left rear spar tip.

That airplane was a great mentor having taught me a few more "lessons" Which I passed onto many hundreds of students over the years.

Barney

[sidestick stirrer]

"I was wondering when that would come up..."

Oh:don't start or I'll have to get you lean against this ignition lead again:)

[Pop n Fresh]

Life is funny.

I wish I would have wanted to be mentored by a nice plane back when I was a young(er) pilot. I had no interest in taildraggers back then. There's no money in that. I also wanted something fast to get me and a full load of other tubbys from one big city to another. C-310 was my dream plane. Good for trips and multi pic.

I did not even like cubs until last year or so. I'm starting to get it now.

[sidestick stirrer]

It would appear that the Tiger Moth delivered The Lesson more frequently than did other old airplanes.
Harry Whereatt told me that it was the slowest airplane that he ever flew but learning isn't all about speed.
I thought the Cub was slow even though the Clipped-Wing version was a bit faster at 75 statute mph.
Still, quite a lesson in momentum to experience how quickly they can spin around when they are hardly moving...

[Old Dog Flying]

I flew Harry's Fleet Fawn (with a 145 hp Warner) and it was a REAL handful. He is gone west now but a real gentleman.

With any of those old machines, you flew them with great care until they were parked otherwise they would teach you a lesson.

Barney

[cgzro]

People considering a tail dragger should consider 5-10 hours in the front seat of a Pitts S2. That is by far the hardest of any I have flown. Handle that front seat blind , wings everywhere and the cubs, finches, tigers, chipminks extras, harvard etc are just less nasty versions of the same procedure. Money well spent imho.

[fleet16b]

I flew Harry's Fleet Fawn (with a 145 hp Warner) and it was a REAL handful. He is gone west now but a real gentleman.

With any of those old machines, you flew them with great care until they were parked otherwise they would teach you a lesson.

Barney

The Fleet biplanes can be particularily hard to land on pavement.
This is due to the type of gear system they have
The landing gear has a knukle joint in the middle that allows the gear to drop down and give the aircraft a "bow legged" appearance
While this is no issue on takeoff , it can be a real issue for new pilots to land.
On landing there are two stages 1) the lading gear makes contact 2) it starts to settle on the grear and sinks further to the runway
Stage 2 is where things can get really out of hand if you are not dead straight on a paved runway. She will try try run allover the place ( the balloon tires dont help either)
The issue is compounded by the landing gear springs . They were traditionally very very spongy .This was rectified by putting stiffer springs in place and this pretty much stopped the problem .
My Fleet Finch however has the spongy gear springs and even after 10 years and close to 500 hrs on her , I still pay attention to pavement landings
By comparison, my friends Fleet Finch has the stiffer gear springs and its a pussycat on pavement

[cgzro]

Not sure what the Vintage Wings Finch has for a gear spring but she demands attention on pavement.
The advice I give other pilots is to drop her on the gear quickly rather than try to fish for a greaser. You need to get the gear bearing weight as quickly as possible otherwise you get a nice series of zig zags as the gear starts to compress and change geometry.