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Thread: Tail Dragger or Tricycle?

  1. #11

    Default Re: Tail Dragger or Tricycle?

    Is the nose gear configuration heavier then the tail dragger?

  2. #12

    Default Re: Tail Dragger or Tricycle?

    Too bad these don't count as experience.


    This Mustang will do around 90 mph and it's electric.

  3. #13
    Senior Member HighWing's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tail Dragger or Tricycle?

    In the early 70s I was offered a third interest in a C-170 and flying lessons for about $3000 so here I am much later with a thousand hours in tailwheel - no ground loops. I always love these discussions and it reminds me of a flight to the Nut Tree for dinner with friends and the guy made a statement that has always stuck with me. People make choices then come up with all sorts of reasons to justify their choice.

    I would like to make just one comment regarding safety and in particular ground loops. About three weeks ago there was a report of a copuple of guys in a KR2 bouncing in a landing who drifted off the runway, dug in the nose wheel and flipped onto its back. Serious injuries to one and minor to the other on board - a friend. Then almost three years ago on the same day and at the same time plus six hours at the same deperture airport, after we had pancaked our Model IV conventional gear Kitfox in an emergency landing, two were killed and two seriously injured in a Bonanza that dug in the nose gear and flipped onto its back. (I was evicted from my emergency room room to make space for one of the eventual fatalities.)

    In our landing (read controlled crash), I can only begin to imagine what could have happened to the two of us had we had flipped onto our back.

    All three of the mentioned airplanes were destroyed, only one ramained upright. Give me the risk of a bent wing tip and possibly a collapsed main gear anytime any place.

    Lowell

  4. #14
    Senior Member t j's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tail Dragger or Tricycle?

    It must be time to bring this poem out again.

    Taildragger, I hate your guts,
    I have the license, ratings and such
    But to make you go straight is driving me nuts.
    With hours of teaching and the controls in my clutch
    It takes a little rudder, easy, that's too much.

    You see, I learned to fly in a tricycle gear
    with one up front and two in the rear.
    She was sleek and clean and easy to steer
    But this miserable thing with tires and struts
    Takes a little rudder, easy, that's too much.

    It demands your attention on the take-off roll
    Or it'll head towards Jones's as you pour on the coal.
    Gotta hang loose, don't over control.

    This wicked little plane is just too much
    With a lot of zigzagging and words obscene
    I think I've mastered this slippery machine.

    It's not that bad if you have the touch
    Just a little rudder, easy, that's too much.

    I relax for a second and from the corner of my eye,
    I suddenly realize with a gasp and a cry
    That's my own tail that's going by.

    You ground looping wreck; I hate your guts,
    Give a little rudder, Great Scott, THAT'S TOO MUCH!

    Author unknown
    Tom Jones
    Classic 4 builder

  5. #15
    Senior Member DanB's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tail Dragger or Tricycle?

    Good one TJ...Had never seen that one. Thanks for sharing.
    Dan B
    Mesa, AZ

  6. #16
    Senior Member Monocock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tail Dragger or Tricycle?

    Surely the whole Kitfox "thing" is based around a rugged taildragger. Isn't the nosewheel thing a "watering down" of what the Kitfox is about?

    I love all aircraft, especially the Kitfox family. However, I can't help feel that putting the small wheel at the front of a Kitfox is like giving a thriathlete an inflatable ring in the swimming event, stabilisers on his bike in the cycling event and roller skates for the run !! He will finish the event with more ease than those without the "assistance", but he will look a bit strange while he is doing it...

  7. #17

    Default Re: Tail Dragger or Tricycle?

    One good thing about the S7, I can do either one.

  8. #18
    Senior Member Rodney's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tail Dragger or Tricycle?

    UH-OH

    GOOD ONE MONOCOCK

    THAT'LL GET IT GOING

    RW
    Last edited by Rodney; 09-15-2010 at 01:25 PM.

  9. #19
    Senior Member t j's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tail Dragger or Tricycle?

    Monocock, you're playing with fire.
    Tom Jones
    Classic 4 builder

  10. #20

    Default Re: Tail Dragger or Tricycle?

    Is a nose wheel assembly heavier then a tail wheel assembly? Probably doesn't matter much, I'm just use to working on a smaller scale.

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