I am now a tail dragger pilot!

After last Monday's performance I was a little bewildered about this endeavor, and was even wondering if I would be able to get comfortable enough to be able to call my self a tail dragger pilot. John had tentatively scheduled us for this past Wednesday, but the entire State was engulfed by heavy rains pretty much all day Wednesday, and the bird needed a new tailwheel as well, so we opted for an early morning flight on Saturday.

Today was one of those days that reminds you why I live where I do. I awoke to a gorgeous sunrise full of pinks, blues, purples and reds filling the cirrus-laden clouds above. THe winds were forecast to remain below 10 knots out of the south - just what the doctor ordered.

We preflighed the plane (the new tailwheel looks great John!) and we were off and running by about 7:00am. WInds were favoring runway 17 L. John had me do two 3 point landings to start with, and these were not super good, but good enough. Then we did the wheel landings - The first one was spot on - just enough power added to allow me to fly the plane all the way down. Then before I knew it, we kissed the runway with that ever familiar "chirp" of the main wheels, without feeling any side load or even vertical load in the seat of my pants. Then it was power off and stick forward to plant the wheels firmly on the surface - could not have been a better landing IMHO. Then I tried one more - probably leveled out a bit too high and did not add enough power to compensate, but the landing was still do-able, so I stuck it on the runway after a bounce or two and finished the landing on two wheels without any problems.

We finished up with a full stop 3 point landing on runway 10 - a rare occurance for Centennial airport, but traffic was light so ATC had no problem clearing us for 10. The last time I saw an approach by an aircraft to runway 10, was the first of two Presedential visits by O-butthead to the Denver area, when the secret service brought their jet in low and fast as I watched in amazement from my office window. Never seen a jet approach and land on that runway before.

Anyway, after .7 hours, John gave me a pat on the back and a well done. Feels pretty good to beat the demons and regain the feeling that you are in total contol of the airplane. John asked if I wanted to take her around solo a couple of times, and told hime I would wait till later. I just wanted to bask in my success for a while I guess.

Here is my endorsement that allows me privilege of operating aircrqft with conventional landing gear (planes with tailwheels for the none-aviation minded folks). I got 'er done in 10.8 hours over about a 3 week period of pretty consisten flying. Your mileage may vary on several factors.

 

As a closing note, all I can say is that I feel very nostalgic right now, knowing that I am now in the company of many other pilots that came before me - from the days of the Wright brothers and the infancy of powered flight, through WWI and WWII, and up to present day conventional aircraft. From Sopwiths to P-51s, to DC-3s, Citabrias, Cessnas, and so on. As John put it to me a while back - you are doing something that not a lot of other pilots know how to do today. I am sure I will continue to reflect on American aviation history as the rest of this day passes, and lazily comes to rest with another beautiful Colorado sunset on a beautiful Fall day.

Now I guess it is time to get back to building an airplane - an RV-8 (that's not an 8A)! Taildraggers here I come!