Tailwheel airplanes were an outlier at the airports I had been at before, seeing them regularly around my new home made it apparent that getting a tailwheel signoff was going to have to happen sooner rather than later. There are no hour requirements for the tailwheel signoff, it is proficiency based.
Learning how to fly a Aeronca 7AC Champ was different from the bigger airplanes I had flown before. A training aircraft developed in the mid 1940’s, it does not have flaps or an electrical system and features a minimal instrument panel.
A tailwheel airplane reinforces the use of rudder pedals, as they are used to keep the aircraft going straight on the ground. On talking about the tailwheel endorsement, the FAA says at times vigorous use of rudder inputs is sometimes necessary.
The biggest part of learning tailwheel is keeping the airplane straight, getting comfortable with feet on rudder pedals is a huge part of the signoff. If the airplane begins to turn on the ground opposite rudder input counteracts it, lack of opposite rudder input can result in the airplane performing a circle on the ground known as a ground loop.
No electrical system means no radio or starter. Hand propping is necessary to start the engine. To hand prop, one person pulls the prop through to start the engine while another person is on the brakes and adjusting the throttle and magnetos as necessary.
Having a stick rather than a control yoke is different too but doesn’t take long to get used to. The throttle is utilized best with a thumb and forefinger, small inputs are all that is needed.
As airspeed is gained on the takeoff roll, the stick pushes the nose forward to get the tail off the ground then is pulled back to take off.
Not having a vertical speed indicator, I found myself relying more on other cues if I was climbing or descending. Talk about going back in time….
Dutch rolls were a maneuver I had only heard about beforehand. Using both rudder pedals and aileron to coordinate rolls keeping the nose pointed towards a relative position. It is a coordination exercise meant to get to know the aircraft better.
Flying on grass was also a new experience, the idea of a runway being too wet or bumpy for use are different considerations from pavement. An appeal of tailwheel aircraft is the increased prop clearance from the ground allows for getting into more rugged fields than most airplanes.
The site picture for landing took some getting used to. With no flaps installed, the use of slips (rudder one way and the aileron the opposite) to lose altitude was a frequent, and fun, occurrence.
Landing can be one of two methods: 3 point and wheel landing. Both must be learned for the signoff; friendly debates wax on far and wide as to which method is better and why. Factors such as landing on pavement and how much of a crosswind are considered.
Keeping ahead of the airplane takes time and repetition, a good day flying was almost assured while honing skills. As with attaining other credentials, the sign off is a demonstration of safely maneuvering the airplane and an invitation to become more proficient over time.