Bunkerhill
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 9, 2009
- Messages
- 1,012
- Reaction score
- 12
Yesterday was a GREAT day of flying because I learned something new on my own. During flight training leading up to getting my license I was taught to begin the takeoff roll with stick back and relax the pressure as you start rolling,then as the plane gains speed you can gently ease the stick forward in order to raise the tail for better visibility and control. This is taught on the DVD "Tailwheel 101" and the two instructors I used taught exactly the same technique respectfully. That works fine until the new tailwheel pilot "me" begins to unknowingly raise the tail a little TO MUCH. My takeoff speed had increased 5 mph and the stick movement on rotation had become more than is needed for a plane that WANTS TO FLY anyway. I have been running down the runway with the wing at a neg angle of attack with the mains being driven into the ground and retarding acceleration. Boy the visibility was great but I have been making a mistake that can really cause problems on a short strip with a high-density altitude. What I did to correct this was make sure my trim is set correctly for take off and begin the roll with stick back then as I move the throttle to full ,release back pressure. All of this is done SMOOTHLY. The tail will if you wait, come up on its own , when it does ,if the trim is correct she will auto takeoff because the wing is set with a POSITIVE angle. Nothing wrong with helping the tail with some forward stick pressure but you must not get overzealous and allow to much. For now I'm not giving forward pressure. It is amazing how these planes perform without me messing up what it wants to do anyway. I realize for most of you this is old news I just thought you might enjoy seeing how progress is being made and maybe some of the other new pilots on here might learn from this post. Man I LOVE THIS STUFF ;D ;D I'm going out today and am gonna start tweaking the trim for even smoother takeoffs.
