How Much Time For A Tailwheel Endorsement??

I think I did about 8-10 hours of dual in a J-3 for my endorsement. I did it right after I got my private.

Tailwheel my favorite rating/endorsement, and it has been a HUGE influence on the way I fly, even though I haven't flown a taildragger in a little while. Well worth the time and money, even if you don't plan on operating off of grass and dirt.

On a somewhat related note, there's an awesome book called "F.E. Potts' Guide to Bush Flying" by F.E. Potts. It's written by an experienced bush pilot who explains some of the techniques of the trade. BUT he is also a gifted writer, and there are sections of the book are beautifully written and will fascinate any pilot.
 
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I did my endorsement in a Citabria. I was signed off after an hour and a half. Expect one hundred hours before you're truly comfortable though.
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See, that sounds more realistic....a simple sign-off, saying I can land and take off on a calm day, taxi to the runway without killing myself (or breaking the airplane) and operate as a basically-trained taildragger pilot. No gravel fields....no grass strips....just enough training for the endorsement. If I never fly one again...well, so be it!
 
Drive a fork-lift for a bunch of hours.

Push a shopping cart around backwards, with a sail attached to it, into, and cross wind.

Remember to push forward, when you are so used to pulling back, on wheel landings.

Learn to use the rudder. You'll hear it over and over, but you will have the hardest time with this part for sure.

Learn to taxi. That'll be the next hardest thing, and relates to rudder, and shopping cart skills above.

If you do it all right, and actually really know everything about what to expect, then you may be able to be competent in a lower number of hours.

There are places that come around to different airports and do a one day endorsement sorta deal. I think it was around $1000 last I saw it, maybe a little less. Got this mailer from them, just the day or two after I was allowed to go solo in a tailwheel plane where I rent.
 
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Yep, you're definitely not in (Kansas City) Kansas anymore Toto.

What airport do you fly out of in KC, Sarah?

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Flyover,

we get excited around here when a lake breaks up the monotony of crop fields, occasional trees, highways and railroads.
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In NM, I was drooling at the scenery. "ooooh....MOUNTAINS!"
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I fly out of KMKC. Love the airport.

Sarah
 
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Yep, you're definitely not in (Kansas City) Kansas anymore Toto.

What airport do you fly out of in KC, Sarah?

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Flyover,

we get excited around here when a lake breaks up the monotony of crop fields, occasional trees, highways and railroads.
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In NM, I was drooling at the scenery. "ooooh....MOUNTAINS!"
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I fly out of KMKC. Love the airport.

Sarah

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See I think it's just the opposite .... back home (I'm originally from St. Louis and did my private back there) I liked looking at the small towns, cattle, fields etc. Here (in the southwest as I live in PHX now) all we have to look at is the same damn brown landscape with a lot of sharp, pointy rocks which would seriously make for a bad day if you had to put-down off field.

I'll take the fields (and GREEN) of the midwest any day.
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Here (in the southwest as I live in PHX now) all we have to look at is the same damn brown landscape with a lot of sharp, pointy rocks which would seriously make for a bad day if you had to put-down off field.

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This is very true. Unless I'm further south (towards the Ozarks) there are *almost* always good emergency landing spots within reach. Now in south Missouri, there aren't anything but huge hills completely covered with trees.

But, I see your point, and I will admit that last weekend when I was on a trip down to south MO and back, I broke through the thin cumulus layer on my descent back into Kansas City and everything was just SO GREEN. It honestly was really pretty.

The mountains just provide a good change of pace.
 
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This is very true. Unless I'm further south (towards the Ozarks) there are *almost* always good emergency landing spots within reach. Now in south Missouri, there aren't anything but huge hills completely covered with trees.



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Now, now. Take a look at this picture I took of my plane at my headquarters in Southern Missouri. Hmm, can you spot the "huge hills completely covered with trees"?
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Hehe, I didn't think so.

In my entire Southern Missouri county (Mississippi County) the deviation in elevation from the highest naturally occurring point to the lowest naturally occurring point is....get this....a WHOPPING TWELVE FEET! We might be a lot of things around here but hillbilly's we ain't!
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Thanks alot, guys!! Honestly, I don't want to do alot of tailwheel flying....just something I'd like to try my hand at. I'd like the endrosement, but I'm not going to go out and pay for 10 hours of dual in a taildragger (you can get a multi-engine rating in less than 10 hours.....
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). Thanks for the responses, though!!

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Hell I think flying a twin is easier than some taildraggers. I got my tailwheel endorsement in a C-120. Great fun!
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You'll be amazed at how just a few hours in a tailwheel aircraft will sharpen your stick and rudder skills. Trust me ... until you've flown a tailwheel you do NOT use enough rudder in your everyday flying!
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I have a theory you could immediately tell whether someone has had tailwheel time when you give them their first V1 cut in a multi sim. Most nose wheel pilots just don't have the concept of pushing the rudder to the floor if you need to. They are used to applying some pressure with their toes.
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A V1 cut in a tailwheel twin. Now THAT would be fun! Round and round we go, where we stop, nobody knows!
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agcatman - very true, very true. But, coming from my part of the state, I have to cross over LOTS of big hills completely covered with trees to GET to your part of the state.
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Sarah
 
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[
II am the guy that gets bored with warbirds and gets bored when people start talking about Cubs...
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Bored with...with warbirds
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say it ain't so!
 
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I fly out of KMKC. Love the airport.

Sarah

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Yeah, that's my old stomping grounds. Was in KC a few months ago and stopped over to see the Connie and the museum. Great place to hang out.

You should have been there when TWA and others were flying jets like the 707 out of there. Now that was a show.
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Yeah, that's my old stomping grounds. Was in KC a few months ago and stopped over to see the Connie and the museum. Great place to hang out.


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Isn't it? I belong to the Airline History Museum, in fact until very recently I was on the marketing committee. I still do some graphic design work for them. I love that place and I love that plane! The DC-3 is starting to look wonderful as well. There are truly some living legends that belong to the organization - in fact more than a couple of members flew that DC-3 on the line for TWA!

On the day of my commercial checkride about 3 weeks ago, I was preflighting the Arrow when the Connie taxiied out and took off. They were just doing a short local flight, probably training or giving something a test run - they came back when we were leaving then when we returned they were washing it for the Barksdale AFB airshow.

It's not everyday you can watch a TWA-liveried Constellation take off while you are preflighting.
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I have an old b&w aerial photo of MKC with TWA Connies and 707s parked everywhere, taken from the window of a 707 that had just departed. Unfortunately, I'm too young to have ever seen that in person.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

Sarah
 
Good on you for working for that museum. I have sent it some money a couple of times and got the sticker to put on my flight kit. I'd love to see it fly once.
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Dave
 
"So why are these 60 plus year old designs held in such high regard with their antiquated canvas covering, tandem seating, and the little wheel in the back? The primary reason is simple… no really, the biggest reason that these airplanes make such great trainers is because they are so simple. They have the minimum equipment required and nothing more. The airplanes are so simple that learning about the various knobs buttons levers and dials takes up less time which allows the student to spend more time learning how to operate the machine and less time learning how the machine operates.


The Super Decathlon is a direct descendant of the Aeronca Champ

There are other “features” that make the legendary taildraggers like Cubs and Champs better trainers; greater adverse yaw, decreased directional stability on the ground, and centerline seating to name a few. All of these “features” lead to a greater understanding of unwanted yaw and increased “rudder skills” which pays big dividends down the road, especially if you plan to fly multi engine airplanes. Tailwheel pilots can recognize unwanted yaw and apply the requisite rudder correction so quickly that it can only be described as “instinctive” which helps them sail through single engine procedures and V1 cuts when transitioning into multi engine airplanes or jets."
http://www.fly5g.com/2013/05/get-your-private-pilot-in-a-tailwheel/
 
Looked mine up - 8.1 hrs and 50 landings doing clovers in A185F at KCVH with pretty good winds
Morning after signoff flew her CA to FL solo

This bird:
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