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Pitfalls to Avoid
Avoid neglecting essential exercises, developing bad habits, and tackling too much at one time.
Pitfall #1. Neglecting tail-up taxi practice
Some flight instructors recommend against practicing tail-up taxi because they fear the student will lose control. One of the popular texts on flying taildraggers condemns tail-up taxi practice as a sure way to wreck airplanes. I ask instructors holding that view to reconsider for the following reasons.
While beginners should not try tail-up taxi until the requisite reflexes have first been acquired by completing Exercises One through Seven in The Art of Avoiding Ground Loops, tail-up taxi is one of the necessary taildragger skills and must eventually be practiced. After all, every wheel landing is nothing more than a transition from flight to tail-up taxi—so if we cannot taxi tail-up at all speeds up to touchdown speed safely, then how can we possibly wheel land safely? Or how can we safely abort a takeoff after the tail has been raised? Safe tail-up taxi must be learned before a safe solo wheel landing can be made and should be learned before any solo takeoff is considered.
Pitfall #2. Neglecting Crosswind Landings
Although the regulatory requirements for a tailwheel endorsement include demonstrating proficiency at crosswind landings, some pilots cling to the idea that crosswind wheel landings are an advanced maneuver that need not be thoroughly learned or regularly practiced if the pilot intends to fly only on calm days.
I ask all pilots holding this notion to reconsider, and to accept the reality that the ability to wheel land in a gusty crosswind is necessary for safe flight because conditions can change unexpectedly. You can do your best to fly only on calm days or only on days when the wind is forecast to be right down the runway, but what happens if the forecast is wrong or if the wind changes before you return or before you arrive at your destination, or if the upwind runway is closed by a disabled aircraft when you arrive and you have to use a crosswind runway?
If you fly long enough, these things will eventually happen. Will you be able to handle them safely? To fly safely, you must be able to handle whatever the wind gods deliver, which, more often than we might like, is a gusty crosswind.
Pitfall #3. Neglecting Tail-up braking
Among the commonly held views of pilots and instructors is a prohibition of tail-up braking, based on the fear of a prop strike. I argue that this commonly held view should be reconsidered because it deprives pilots of one of their most essential steering resources. When rudder authority is not sufficient to counteract the crosswind, as frequently happens, differential braking is our best way to maintain directional control, especially while the tail is up.
Pitfall #4. Lazy Stick Technique
An all too common training and practice deficiency is regularly seen when pilots land or taxi without holding the stick in proper position. The proper procedures certainly are taught, but apparently are not always learned or taken to heart, as sloppy stick technique is regularly seen, especially among those new to taildraggers. I ask all taildragger pilots to consider that landing in three-point attitude without getting the stick all the way back puts the pilot and plane in a vulnerable position because at three-point landing speeds the rudder is only minimally effective.
This makes the steerable tailwheel the primary steering resource, but the tailwheel can only be effective at steering if it is in firm contact with the ground. If the tailwheel is allowed to lift off the ground or lightly skim the surface it will not work for steering, and unless the pilot is already proficient at steering with differential braking, the plane will be at the mercy of the winds. This vulnerability can be avoided by keeping the stick all the way back so the wind pressure on the full-up elevator keeps the tailwheel firmly in contact with the ground.
Landing is not the only situation in which proper stick position can be critical. Taxiing on windy days can be dangerous if we don’t position the control surfaces correctly, because a strong wind can get under the tail or a wing and flip the plane over. This is true for any light airplane, but is even more critical in a small taildragger because the tail is light and there is no nose wheel to help prevent the tail from lifting. An up elevator invites a wind from the rear to lift the tail. Similarly, an up aileron invites a wind from that rear quarter to lift that wing, and a down aileron facing a wind from that front quarter increases lift on that wing, inviting a similar disaster. Proper stick position relative to the wind is essential to safe taxiing on windy days. Do not neglect this critical part of your training.
Pitfall #5. Nose-up trim on final approach
It may be tempting to use nose-up trim to eliminate the need for back pressure on the stick during a stable approach to a three-point landing. This is a bad idea because it encourages lack of attention to stick position and pressure, which can foster a dangerous habit of not getting the stick all the way back at the moment the airplane touches down.
Nose-up trim during a landing can also critically increase pilot workload in the event of a go-around, setting the stage for a departure stall when application of full power suddenly makes the up-trimmed elevator bring the nose much higher than desired. It is far better to be holding some back pressure on the stick throughout the approach, round-out, and flare, and to pull the stick all the way back at the moment of any three-point touchdown. If the elevator trim is set for cruise, it will not be working so strenuously against you in a go-around.
Pitfall #6. Not Enough Stop-and-goes
Many pilots regularly practice touch-and-go landings without practicing enough stop-and-goes. Bringing the aircraft to a full stop is essential practice in maintaining control during the deceleration phase of the landing, which is where all ground loops occur. Touching down and promptly adding power to go around for the next landing may help cultivate smooth touchdowns, but it does not help train the pilot to maintain precise directional control during deceleration. Consider practicing stop-and-goes or land-and-taxi-backs, rather than so many touch-and-goes.
Pitfall #7. Dancing on the Rudder Pedals
Some pilots advocate what I call foot fidgeting. To focus the pilot’s attention on his or her feet and to help keep the feet ready for a quick reaction, some pilots and instructors suggest constantly and lightly tapping first one rudder pedal then the other, and to add pressure to one of those taps if some steering input is suddenly needed. They call this dancing on the rudder pedals. But let’s consider what happens if the need for right rudder is suddenly perceived, but the foot fidgeting cycle is currently on the left pedal. Does it get the added pressure by mistake? It seems to me that while the foot fidgeting cycle might help quicken the reaction 50% of the time, it would actually delay the reaction and possibly even encourage an incorrect reaction the other 50% of the time. I think dancing on the rudder pedals is a silly distraction from the real lessons to be learned.
Pitfall #8. Focusing on Skills Rather Than Reflexes
The lessons to be learned often seem pretty vague. “Learn to taxi,” “learn three-point landings,” “learn wheel landings,” “learn crosswind wheel landings,” or “learn to avoid ground loops” are assignments too general to be useful. Although these are indeed the skills we need, we are left wondering what they really mean and how we can safely acquire them. The assumption seems to be that if we just keep trying we will eventually have some kind of epiphany and suddenly know exactly what to do. Strangely enough, this has apparently worked to some extent, but the fact that people are still ground looping demonstrates that it does not always work soon enough.
To make these skills easier to understand and learn, we need to break them down into the specific reflexes underlying them so attention and energy can be focused on something specific and manageable, with fewer distractions. These reflexes are the building blocks for all the necessary taildragger skills. If you think about your flying skills in terms of the reflexes they employ, and if you concentrate on learning each of the reflexes that contribute to a given skill, the skill will follow.
