About a month ago I finished my instrument rating. I was thinking of taking some time off before my next flying adventure, but decided life is too short, so tailwheel time it is. For those who don't know, planes can be classified in two categories: those that drag their tails on the ground, and those that don't. They all fly the same, but takeoffs, landings and taxiing is different enough between the two types that the FAA decided you need training and an endorsement in your logbook from a qualified instructor to fly the former.
The first step was to talk to my instructor and get a recommendation for a book. He lent me "The Compleat Taildragger," and I read it in about a week. It was actually quite good at explaining what was different from the planes I usually fly and why it was different. It was also a little scary, with its list of all the things that could go wrong. I started wondering if it was worth the effort, but decided that if other pilots can master tailwheel flying, so can I.
The plane I chose to learn to fly in is one of my club's Citabrias. Quite a different plane from what I've been flying lately, it had only two seats and a joystick instead of a yoke. The instrument panel is somewhat limited too: no attitude indicator, directional gyro or vertical speed indicator. Add to that the fact that it's body is covered in canvas instead of metal and I had a distinct feeling I was back to flying like in the "good old times."
I met my instructor at the club and he showed me how to prepare the plane for flying. We spent some time discussing the maneuvers we were going to perform and how the plane would behave differently than I was used to. One interesting tidbit was that there wasn't enough space for us and my flight bag, so we ended leaving it behind, locked inside a safety box.
Then it was time for us to limber up and learn to bend in new and original ways in order to get inside the plane. Bend we did, and eventually I found myself in the front seat looking over the nose cowling. I was impressed that I could actually see over the nose and would not need to do S-turns in order to taxi.
Starting the plane was different too: no keys were necessary; all I had to do was press a button. Press the button I did, the engine started and off we went to the warm up area with me holding the joystick back. Taxiing was ok, but I have to say that holding the joystick was an effort. Apparently one side benefit of flying these planes is that it will help me build upper arm strength.
My instructor did the takeoff and we were on our way to the practice area where we did the usual maneuvers in order to get familiarized with the plane's handling: steep turns, slow flight, and stalls. The plane does indeed fly like other planes, though requiring somewhat more right rudder than I'm used to. Working with the joystick was "natural" like my instructor said it would be and performing the maneuvers was straightforward.
After that we went to Tracy airport to practice our landings. My instructor did the first one, with me accompanying him so as to get a feel for attitude and behavior. The next three were mine and they were somewhat bouncy and definitely not smooth, but the plane was able to take off again so, according to the laws of aviation, they were great landings. And after that we went back to Palo Alto where I got my first tailwheel entry on my logbook.
My impressions of flying the Citabria? It does require judicious use of the rudder pedals and the level flying attitude has the nose lower than I expected. The joystick is easy to use, but good trimming is essential if you want to give your arms a rest. Having some of the switches I need behind me was strange, but I had no trouble adjusting to that. As for the instruments, I thought I would miss the directional gyro, but I was wrong: the vertical speed indicator was the one I kept pining for.
All in all it was a good workout and I had a blast. I look forward to my next lesson in a couple of weeks.
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