I have about 6 gallons trough my second plane, H-9 Super stick .40. I have refused (lazy) to fix some simple problems. I have to steer on takeoff (it's a trike) because I did a poor job of notching the nose gear for the collar set screw (it comes loose EVERY time I tighten it). The thing is slightly nose-heavy and drops at any throttle setting below 1/2, so I fly it faster than I should just to keep the thing airborne. Landings are too easy with this setup, but I use a lot of elevator to smooth them out.

I am finishing my 1st tail dragger, a UCD 3D. I will set the controls very low and fly it quite timidly and, of course, I will have my instructor there to help. He has more confidence in my flying ability than I do, which scares me a bit. I put a Saito FA .82 in there and did some firewall and all-around reinforcement with CA, epoxy, fiberglass tape and some triangle stock, (just a little).

I am leaving the wheel-pants off because they look like wing daggers in the event of a main gear failure, and the gear is basically taped on this thing.


I have gotten some good advice from RCU already, but I want to put it out there once again to see if there is anything else I need to know as a newbie before I begin this transition.

Thanks!!

Mark

agexpert,
This may come across sounding a bit funny, but don't worry about it too much. I a lot of people getting all upset worrying about flying a taildragger. IMHO they are getting upset over nothing. There really isn't much difference between a trike and a taildragger. Land it like you would your trike. When you are ready to touch down on the runway you can either flair it out and make a "3-point" landing, or you can just let it settle down and touch the runway for a "mains" landing.

The one thing about a taildragger that you need to worry about doesn't have to do with taking off or landing, but rather when you taxi. The one thing I hate about taildraggers is trying to taxi in windy conditions. Sometimes it gets very hard to get the plane to do what you want it because the wind blowing against the tail can keep you from being able to turn the plane. Arrrgghhhh!!!!

But as I said above, don't get yourself tied in knots worrying about it. Taildraggers aren't any harder to land than a trike.

Hope this helps

Ken

Thanks Ken,

Others have told me similar things about TDs. I am just so used to the stick. It's very easy to fly and easier to land than a trainer. They truly are perfect second planes. I really can't wait to move up, but have grown very comfortable with my easy flyer. I'm sure all will be well.

Thanks for the help.

Later,

Mark

im with Ken Mark, the transition to tail dragger is no big deal, and as far as the ucd goes, youll get it in the air and think wow, what a nice third plane

relax and have fun

Hi Mark,

Ditto to all that has been said. A tail dragger has got to be easier to taxi than a trike with a loose steering arm. File a flat on the nose gear wire and it won't slip. There won't be much of a take off roll with your you-can-do.

When you have a bit of time move the CoG to the rear a few mm at a time on the stik trying with each change

Cheers,

Colin

Mark, consider keeping your stick, even as you move on. It`s nice to have that comfortable flyer on hand as a spare or just for when you want some easy, relaxed Sunday flying.

TF,

I intend keep all of my flyable planes until they are um....no-longer flyable. That 'old' stick suffers from a serious case of hangar rash, the carb came loose today and I landed it hard a few times before I realized it was loose, (really bad throttle control and lotsa dead-sticks with a loose carb, BTW). I rarely clean it very well, the nose gear is so loose it's funny, The elevator came off in inverted flight and I pushed 4 pins in each hinge to avoid future failures. I epoxied the h#ll out of the tail section after it fell off the table during one of my rare cleaning sessions. What the heck is after-run oil? Cycle batteries? I do that in-flight. The wing looks like a tape-sampler from 3M. Poor thing looks like cr%p, but I like flying it just the same. It's the perfect 'beater' plane. H-9 makes a pretty durable ARF. I have truly abused that poor plane and it keeps on flying for me.

I agree. It's always nice to have a good, dependable plane to fly. This plane should be encased in Lucite and hung in a museum for all I have put it through as a beginner, but I will just keep on flying the poor, abused thing.

Please don't turn me in to the plane-abuse authorities as I am a beginner who knows no better.

Man, you ought to see my Avistar!! It`s the bird I soloed on and it`s taken it`s share of cartwheels, missed approach and into a shrub, just plain lost control and flew it into the ground( had a fairly major repair job to do after that one) etc., etc. The nose gear is a bit raked towards the rear and the main gear is somewhat splayed out from all the bouncy landings. Does it still fly and do I take it to the field regularly? You betcha! I fly a PT-19 and a T-34 also, and they`re not hard to fly, but I don`t relax on those like I do my trusty Avistar. I`ll fly her till her expiration date comes up and then no doubt shed a tear!