Pilots trained in the last 30 or 40 years may not ever have learned the skills necessary for flying a tailewheel airplane. Taildraggers require you to wake up those ''dead'' feet and really feel the rudder pedals. Michael Maya Charles teaches some new tailwheel pilots in this month's As The Beacon Turns column.

By Michael Maya Charles
Columnist

A neighbor bought a brand-new Decathlon recently and asked me to provide tailwheel training for him and his partner. One of the men had a very brief affair with a Cessna 140 back when Elvis was still making records and had mostly flown light twins and turboprops since. His partner's couple-hundred hours flying time was almost all in the ubiquitous Cessna 172. Each came to the task intent on doing whatever it took to become a good tailwheel pilot. They were motivated to learn both the big picture stuff and the niggly nuances; they were the kind of students that every instructor would kill for.

The pilot who delivered the shiny red Decathlon to the new owners had given each partner a basic introduction to the aircraft before he left with a smile and a big check. When I picked up the baton, each partner was somewhat familiar with the machine, though it was obvious that we had some work to do to wake up their feet.

Tailwheel Awareness

Anyone who says it's not any more difficult to fly a tailwheel airplane than a tricycle probably hasn't flown a taildragger. The typical GA taildragger has lighter wing loading, is more responsive to wind, has a CG and mass in the wrong place at times and demands more (correct) pilot input. Tailwheel airplanes require that you fly them with all of the controls, especially the rudders and tailwheels. Does this make you a better pilot? That debate will rage until the last taildragger's bones are pushed over the cliff behind the hangar, but I'm quite sure that tailwheel flying makes you a more aware pilot. Tailwheel pilots tend to be more aware of the wind, more aware of their aircraft and more aware of the control inputs required to be fully engaged in flying. You can't fake awareness.

I fly tailwheel airplanes with my shoes off to increase awareness and to better feel the rudder pedals/bars. Though in my little Cub there just isn't much room for clunky shoes in the narrow confines between the fuselage and the front seat frame, the Decathlon has more room for your feet, especially up front. But I still prefer the feel of feet against the rudder pedals or rudder bars. My students tried barefoot flying on our first lesson and adopted it immediately.

To be fully aware, to really feel what is going on in the aircraft, you must learn to relax. When you are tense, you just can't feel the subtle changes in g-force that announce right and wrong rudder usage. It's best to be settled lightly into the seatback, but not braced stiffly against it.

For most new tailwheel pilots there is a lot more rudder fanning than necessary on takeoff and landing. This is caused by stiff leg muscles and tension, a lack of relaxation. Better to look down the runway a bit more, and aim the airplane towards that point while reminding yourself to relax. And breathe!

Ground Flying

Tailwheel taxiing is best learned without brakes. We use power instead of brakes to regulate speed, and learn to judge subtle changes in the gradient of the ramp and taxiways that will dictate your use of power. I always find that a pilot who taxis at 1800 RPM while dragging the brakes just isn't aware. It's also hard on brakes, tires and prop tips.

Taxiing taildraggers is also the time we learn how to properly place the flight controls for wind, something that is largely ignored in the tricycle birds until the wind really howls.

Foundation

Learning anything new requires new underpinnings, a new foundation to be built. For tailwheel flying, that foundation includes getting acquainted with those cute little footrests on either side of the stick. The new partners and I flew north along the Front Range, doing gentle turns: left-right-left-right-left-right. First a slip, then a skid, then ... ah ... that's better. "Feel that? Let's make another turn like that one!" I coach.

Sure, they could stare at the drunken turn-coordinator ball in front of them but I wanted them to feel the difference between coordinated and uncoordinated. I asked both pilots to close their eyes to feel coordinated and uncoordinated turns while I flew the airplane.

We did a lot of dutch rolls, though sitting in the back of a tandem airplane while a pilot first sorts out the proper pressures required isn't much fun. I hadn't done or ridden through any akro for a while and my tender tummy's limit was a couple dozen before I became very interested in doing something else. Belch.

Flying these simple airplanes is largely about attitude -- making the picture in the windshield look like you want it. Even though this Decathlon has a full gyro package, a Garmin GNS 530, TIS and plenty of cool things to stare at while you fly, attitude is the bedrock for this kind of flying.

Who Says?

There are many ways to take off and land a tailwheel airplane, and it's essential not to get too wrapped around the rudder post about "my" or "the" way; rather, it's more important to have a reason and basis for each thing that you choose to do. For example, is it better to wheel land or three-point? It depends. Is it better to come off the ground in a three-point or wheel attitude? It depends. Should you make all approaches power-off or with partial power? You guessed it: It depends. What works well in one type of aircraft or in one type of situation is often just the thing that will get you into trouble in another. Remember: It depends.

Of course, if you choose one of these things at the wrong time in a taildragger, you may just need Depends.

It's important to learn all of the techniques so that each of these well-polished tools is in your quiver when you reach for it. To say one or the other is the "best" just doesn't recognize the highly dynamic world of tailwheel flying.

Circuits And Bumps

Developing centerline discipline is crucial in the early stages of tailwheel takeoffs and landings. Sure, there are times when you want to ignore the centerline and use the whole runway, landing on one side or the other to avoid prairie-dog holes, wet spots or whatever -- even times when you will chose to land across the runway to reduce crosswind component -- but the rest of the time you need to be aware of exactly where the centerline (or center of the runway, if the surface is grass or dirt) is, and make your aircraft straddle it. That simply gives you more options, and more room for ol' Murphy.

The Decathlon has no flaps so the secret to wheel landings is to fly a little faster to keep the airplane's tail from settling. Again, the picture through the windscreen is the important thing. We talked about and I demo'd the "tweens" attitude, where the aircraft is neither firmly on the main wheels nor decidedly in the three-point attitude; it's just in-between. Most tailwheel airplanes don't like the tweens and some get downright ornery, sometimes darting for the runway lights, the woods, or the t-hangars at the sides of the runway if the pilot doesn't make a choice and transmit that choice firmly and clearly to the controls. It's best to avoid the tweens in tailwheel airplanes unless you want to start land tours of the airport or practice ground looping.

Part of the reason for new tailwheel pilots tending to get the airplane in the tweens attitude is fear of a prop strike. Most pilots are understandably wary of getting that big machete too close the runway on landing until they know how much clearance they have. So before the first lesson, we hoisted the airplane up by the tail and touched the prop to the ground to demonstrate the ugly nose-down attitude required to get a prop strike. If I have lifting help, I try to demo this with the student in the seat because the picture through the windscreen is one that they will never forget. In nearly every case, the prop strike zone is a lot farther nose-down than they think -- but don't forget to leave a little more room for gear flex when landing hard.

The three-point landing is one way of landing slowly without a lot of finesse. Flare ... establish an attitude ... wait ... land-and hold it on the runway. There are times when the three-point is the better choice; i.e., on soft ground, or when making full-stall landings in aircraft without flaps. For many pilots, this is the default mode, but they are missing the potential of their aircraft by making such a mono-choice.

New Tailwheel Pilots

As we flew together, the partners eventually began to learn where each of the Decathlon's three wheels were, when they would touch down, and how to control the airplane in a whatever wind they encountered. They learned to fly the airplane right into the landing and through the takeoff, to put the airplane where they wanted it, not to simply be along for the ride. The Decathlon began to talk to them -- and they were listening.

As my charges slowly relaxed with this new machine, their perceptions improved, their awareness improved -- and their flying improved. They began to fly more smoothly and ... more coordinated. Yes, they became better pilots.

There are fewer and fewer tailwheel pilots left in our shrinking aviation world, and that's unfortunate because polishing your flying skills in a taildragger is a great way to become a more aware pilot. I know at least two happy Decathlon owners who will attest to that.