I am getting ready to scratch build a twin plane with a wing similar in shape and size as an Ultra Sport 60 and my own fuselage design. I am going to use newly broken in ASP .36 2 stroke engines and 10 inch props. I am dead set on retracts. Now I have never owned a trike geared plane since the first month of flying and then switched my trainer forty to tail dragger. All other planes in the fleet are currently taildraggers or are made to float. I only own one twin and it is a seamaster with two ASP .25 engines with 9x5-6 props. I have heard of the horror stories of taking off a taildragger twin. Is it really as bad as they say or is it ok to build this new plane as a tail dragger with retracts and save the nose wheel weight.

Can't you use enough up elevator during initial takeoff roll to keep the tail wheel on the ground long enough for the rudder to kick in?

I did a Super Kaos kit bash to a twin as a tail dragger and bash of a Direct Connection Sea Fury to a twin. Also a tail dragger. Picture following of both in flight together. Had a Me-110. Have a Handley Page O-400 with tail skid and am now building a dH Hornet. So it looks like I am getting away with it! It does seem that having twin rudders in the prop wash makes for easier control.

A twin tail dragger is not much different than a single engine tail dragger. I have a P-82 with twin 40 on it. I have to bring up the power slowly, add in some rudder to compensate for torque and keep moving up the power. I use the elevator for taxing, but you need to be careful using the elevator on take off roll, as you can take off to soon and stall. Don't let the horror stories stop you, just build your plane. Good Luck, Dave

I recently put a Twinstar together and I just couldn't see it as a trike so I went ahead and converted it to conventional gear. You have to be a little more careful on the takeoff run, I think the greater precession of the twin props is part but part of it is the fact that there is no prop wash helping the rudder so the plane has to be traveling a bit faster before the rudder becomes effective. Whatever the cause it's something that can be overcome pretty easily on most planes as long as you think ahead a little before you start down the runway.

Well thanks for the positive reinforcement of my idea, however in drawing up the plans, I just can't get a clean way of placing the landing gear in front of the spar. I want the nacelles to be just big enough for the fuel tanks. The retracts have to go in the nacelle rib gap or one gap outward. Either one of these will put the retract or the wheel in the way of the fuel tank. If I move the fuel tanks forward to allow room for the retract, I start getting too far forward with the engines. It looks like I might just have to go with trike gear anyway.

I addressed the retracts issue in the twin tailed Sea Fury bash pictured above by having the nacelles below the wing and using rotating retracts that I salvaged out of a P-40.
Chuck