The Difference Between Pilots and Non-Pilots

tonyw

tonyw

Well-Known Member
Yesterday, my sister got married up on a glacier in Alaska. We had to fly up there and the air taxi company took us up in an Otter and a Beaver. I sat right seat on the Otter.

Anyway, we get back down, and the people who flew up were saying stuff like, whoa, was that a steep turn or what and didn't he land really quick? And wow, it was really bumpy when we came back.

I was quiet for a bit until my brother asked me what I thought, and then I said, nah, that wasn't that steep, it was only about a 30 degree bank, which is not that extreme. And the bumps were just thermals.

By the way, I have a question for anyone flying in Alaska. Is there a state ban on tricycle airplanes or something? All of the planes I saw on the field were taildraggers.
 
I got a ride in a Turbine Beaver once up in Alaska. Holy crap that was a lot of fun!

I'm sorry, you were saying something about uhh, blah blah blah people blah? :)
 
Doug Taylor said:
I got a ride in a Turbine Beaver once up in Alaska. Holy crap that was a lot of fun!

I'm sorry, you were saying something about uhh, blah blah blah people blah? :)
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An Otter on skis, Dough. Hey, I behaved well. I remembered that my sister was getting married instead of focusing on the airplane.
:D

That was a badass plane, dude. It got off the ground QUICK!
 
tonyw said:
Yesterday, my sister got married up on a glacier in Alaska. We had to fly up there and the air taxi company took us up in an Otter and a Beaver. I sat right seat on the Otter.

Anyway, we get back down, and the people who flew up were saying stuff like, whoa, was that a steep turn or what and didn't he land really quick? And wow, it was really bumpy when we came back.

I was quiet for a bit until my brother asked me what I thought, and then I said, nah, that wasn't that steep, it was only about a 30 degree bank, which is not that extreme. And the bumps were just thermals.

By the way, I have a question for anyone flying in Alaska. Is there a state ban on tricycle airplanes or something? All of the planes I saw on the field were taildraggers.
Click to expand...

Taildraggers are just really functional at some things that nosedraggers aren't. The geometry keeps the prop farther away from rocks, etc which is good. Really great at landing on the unimproved strips/sandbars, generally more rugged (tailwheels generally require less maintenance than a nosewheel and are harder to break) and many other reasons not listed. Besides, taildraggers are cooler by an order of magnitude. You really need your tailwheel endorsement if you don't have it yet.
 
Sounds like fun :)

tonyw said:
By the way, I have a question for anyone flying in Alaska. Is there a state ban on tricycle airplanes or something? All of the planes I saw on the field were taildraggers.
Click to expand...
What airport was it? Some airports up here have alot more taildraggers than others.
 
WacoFan said:
Taildraggers are just really functional at some things that nosedraggers aren't. The geometry keeps the prop farther away from rocks, etc which is good. Really great at landing on the unimproved strips/sandbars, generally more rugged (tailwheels generally require less maintenance than a nosewheel and are harder to break) and many other reasons not listed.
Click to expand...

Yup!

As an owner of a trigear rig in AK, I can also add that many of the strips I'd like to land on are simply just accessible to me in a trigear.
 
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