by SP-K79 » Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:20 pm
FLYING TAILDRAGGERS
I am not sure weather to post this here however, since the title is Bush planes it should be fine.
Besides issues with the models we have mentioned earlier, taildraggers sure can be a handful.
Here are a few tips to help you enjoy the "real planes".
GROUND OPPERATIONS
Before engine start.................stick always back.
Breaks....................................check.
Taxing INTO the wind............stick back and into the wind.
Taxing WITH the wind...........stick forward and with the wind.
TAKEOFF
Taildragger CG is behind the main gear, causing negative stability – the “gorilla effect”.
Force required to correct a turn increases with time and radius of turn – the “big gorilla effect”.
If a turn is not stopped quickly, the rudder will not have enough force to correct.
Under power, the rotating slip stream makes the aircraft turn right.
Asymmetric loading of the propeller, the “P effect”, gives further left turn tendency especially with the tail on the ground.
Gyroscopic procession of the propeller causes a turning motion when the tail comes up.
The “P effect” lessons when the tail wheel is up.
Gyroscopic procession stops when the tail wheel is up.
“Punch and jab” to stop effects in time and to avoid “sneaking” and ground looping.
Do not lift the tail, if it comes up just keep it barely off and stay in ground effect.
On grass or loose surfaces use 1 notch of flaps.
TAKEOFF:
stick............................back
roll centre line............rudder left than right than left
lift tail
takeoff with tail up
fly off.
FLIGHT
The planes are not acrobatic, it is the pilot who has acrobatic abilities.
In winter, higher air density, more lift.
Finer pitch propellers, such as on sea planes, spin at higher RPM giving more horse power. Thus giving lower cruise speed because the engine can be over rotated.
STALL:
To induce a stall, yank back the controls and “tap” left rudder at the stalling speed. However, real world stalls happen most often when turning final and too much inside rudder is added at about 500 feet AGL.
Abrupt flying leads to accelerated stalls.
Spin recover:
power idle
neutral ailerons
opposite rudder to stop rotation
recover from dive
add power to cruise.
APPROACH
If you see you are high on approach first pull back the power.
When you reduce power drop the nose not to stretch the glide.
Taildraggers are usually high drag aircraft.
Once power is off they drops speed quickly and starts to drop.
Use the throttle to adjust glide path and use pitch for speed.
Change tank only when runway is made.
On downwind set power to 2200/2300 RPM than trim for level flight. Once power is reduced the aircraft will be slightly nose heavy. Once flaps are fully down, trim should be almost perfect.
On base leg deploy full flaps.
Start descent on turning final.
On final, best glide speed multiplied by the minimum descent speed. Or half way between best glide speed and stall speed, approximately 1.3 times the stall speed. Fly stable on final.
LANDING
“Punch” the stick forward just before touchdown to wheel land. After main touches down, gently apply forward pressure. Apply the stick back when the tail is down.
To three point land flare just before touchdown. Keep the stick back after touchdown.
30% or less crosswind @ 15 KN is ok to land. Slip into the wind just before touchdown with the upwind wheel(s) touching down first.
“Stuff” the stick in the bottom right corner or the forward corner in a cross wind after touchdown.
Hope this helps.
Hue Peter Coal
JAFVA, Vice President
"Never fly where you have not flown in your mind, five minutes age."