Teaching Tailwheel

Wheel landings were the hardest thing for me to learn.

What finally helped me was to have the instructor add power during the roundout, so I would have to "fly" the wheels onto the ground. If you have a long runway, you can use this to do multiple wheel touch & goes down the runway.
 
I'm not a CFI, so this is definitely from the student perspective: the focus on the visuals throughout the video and the inclusion of a text wrap-up is a great balance of information for someone learning the maneuver. Your narration isn't overwhelming or lacking, which is helpful. Is the camera showing your view down the runway an accurate representation of your sight picture during the landing?
 
While I'm unqualified to comment from the perspective of a pilot, as a former teacher of sorts (religious setting) and an avid learner, I felt I learned something from the presentation. I suspect that in concert with actual flying, your video would reinforce important, basic elements.

You may have said "Okay," too much (or that impression MAY come from the vodka).

I learned some things, which suggests to me that you are effective in your presentation.
 
My issue with my tailwheel flying right now is sticking the landing exactly where I want. It's easy when you can float or add some power, but sticking it on the threshold of a 600' strip so that you have plenty of space to get stopped has eluded me thus far. More touch and goes will probably fix it. Wheel landings of course because if you're doing 3 points, you might as well buy a trike and save on the insurance.
 
TwoTwoLeft said:
Wheel landings are for those who can't 3 point... :D
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3 points are for people that should have bought a 172. If you're 3 point landing you're not using the advantages of a tailwheel but still have all the disadvantages. Basically, if not doing a wheel landing doesn't result in the tailwheel being removed from the aircraft, you don't really need the tailwheel. Or taking off in deep sand. Getting that 3rd wheel off the ground before you start moving reduced that ground roll a lot. Besides 3 points are easy.
 
z987k said:
3 points are for people that should have bought a 172. If you're 3 point landing you're not using the advantages of a tailwheel but still have all the disadvantages. Basically, if not doing a wheel landing doesn't result in the tailwheel being removed from the aircraft, you don't really need the tailwheel. Or taking off in deep sand. Getting that 3rd wheel off the ground before you start moving reduced that ground roll a lot. Besides 3 points are easy.
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Sure, in real world applications the wheel landing it's variants are more practical. The 3 point is a training tool used to help master energy management for the approach to landing. Or for airplanes that can't wheel land due to prop clearance or main gear issues.

3 pointers take more finesse and more precise energy management to do well. You only have one attitude to land on and the timing has to be right to put it where you want. Induced drag is high, forward visibility is low and energy is at a premium. Wheel landings are easy once your feet wake up and you figure out how not to stuff the prop into the dirt or ricochet back into the traffic pattern. They are a lot more forgiving and easier to fix if you happen to carry and extra 5 mph. If you're having trouble putting it where you want it, practice touching down on your spot in the 3 point attitude. Just go practice someplace where your buddies won't see you landing like a Nancy and tape tampons to your plane in the middle of the night.... It will naturally transfer over when you want to touch down on the mains, slightly tail low for unimproved strips. It's all really the same way landing a Tailwheel will help you land a tricycle better.

I've only got about 2000 hours teaching Tailwheel so there really isn't much I haven't seen or certain attitudes I haven't run into regarding this subject. You can do what you want, but I know what works.
 
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hook_dupin said:
I've started to throw some videos up on YouTube for students to get the mechanics of flying tail wheel.

One of the first ones is the wheel landing:

I appreciate any comments or techniques y'all have.
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Nice job. This might not always be an option given the traffic pattern you have to work with but I like teaching wheel landings power-off. Just fly your final a bit high and pitch for the approach speed. With less emphasis on the ASI itself, and more so on where the touchdown point will be. Coming in a little faster also helps. After the student gets the sight picture and mechanics down then transition to slower approach speeds and using power. Also emphasis on smooth and increasing transition to forward pressure on the stick as soon as the mains touch. Trimming it out with no death grips. For those who seemed like they hated the prop or others who were timid in applying forward pressure (lots of bounces) it would help them to add just a bit of nose down trim. That made it more of a "hold it off and set it down" action by releasing back pressure rather than pushing.


Maybe next time try to mount the camera to the leaf spring of the Tailwheel and shoot forward with another higher up in the cockpit looking down so we can see your hands and feet working together.
 
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TwoTwoLeft said:
Maybe next time try to mount the camera to the leaf spring of the Tailwheel and shoot forward with another higher up in the cockpit looking down so we can see your hands and feet working together.
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Thanks for the tips. I've got quite a bit of footage shot already, and now I'll be putting it into a usable product. The plan is to package it into a lecture/video series.

My motivation: I found in much of the tail wheel stuff that the student doesn't catch everything in a demo. The next hour will be wasted if the student wasn't paying close attention to everything during that 3 seconds in a wheelie. I'm trying to break down the mechanics (what I do and where I look) as much as possible to save training time. In the Air Force, I'm used to these very precise debriefs using tape play back. I'm trying to create something similar here.
 
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