Tri Gear or Tail Wheel?

[whitewulfe]

Just when you thought this 100 year old question was beat to death,(along with the answers) someone asks, "If I put floats on the aircraft, is it a Bi gear, Quad gear or a taildragger?"



JP

I'd say it's sexy pulling up to the dock - taildragger or trigear won't make it to the dock *grins*

[DesertFox4]

Just when you thought this 100 year old question was beat to death

Just as every take off will result in the aircraft returning back to Earth, these conversations will quickly decline into " if you're not a tail wheel pilot your not a real pilot" statements. Maybe because "conventional" gear were prevalent early on. That's all there was to fly so you had to learn the ways of the little wheel. Maybe everyone back then were just born better pilots. I doubt it.
Anyway, my conclusion after over 2,000 hours in Kitfox's (more of that time in tail wheel Kitfox's) is they are one heck of fun flying aircraft no matter where you mount your wheels. Just please don't tell me I can't have fun in nose wheel configuration. I already have.

I find there isn't an iota of difference once you leave the ground in flying characteristics. If you choose nose gear you can still go a lot of the places the tail wheel can go but not everywhere they can. You have to be more careful as it is not as robust as say a Cessna 206 nose gear. Three things I can think of you shouldn't do in a nose gear is land on very soft terrain. Land in tall grass or weeds unless you are completely familiar and know there are no hidden obstacles or animal holes and don't try to water skim with a nose gear.
You'll will love the ground handling characteristics of the nose gear. Much less susceptible to wind gusts and visibility is much improved. Directional control is more stable during take off and landing.

I'm quite certain that the most fun you can have with an airplane is to mount it on floats. I'd love to find out for myself before I get too old.

[HighWing]

I always enjoy these discussions. I tend to sense a bit of defensiveness in some of the posts as well as some pridefullness. I guess my feelings tend toward the latter as some of the wording used to describe the transition gives a feeling of done that, but then again, I know there are pilots better than I am who do not have the endorsement (see below). Regarding the evolution of the design. No real problem with that with the exception that all of this evolving has changed the basic mission of the Kitfox by adding incremental weight to the point that we hear of empty weighs from the high 500 pounds to the low 900 pounds under an identical Riblet wing.

I know that when I bought my first kit in 1993 the factory was shipping 40 kits a month. I have been told that before that the shipments would reach the 75 per month level, all tail wheel. I don't know what that means, but....

I learned in conventional gear. For all I knew it was how you flew an airplane. My transition was from car and motorcycle to "airplane". I hadn't done many wheel landings, so when I was transitioning to nose wheel, I was glad for the little skiddy thing on the bottom of the tail. My wife drives a hybrid - the power steering is electric rather than fluid driven. It requires a bit of a shove to get it to power up, then doesn't self center after a curve. I have to be more attentive driving her car - it is just different - it is all she drives and tells me she is used to it.

I am reluctant to bring in the pilot skill level thing, but here goes. I once had an employee whose father failed his first four check rides. Then on one of his first passenger flights as PIC, he killed himself and his three passengers on departure. I think skill level is a factor. Like the builders of our airplanes, we as pilots are not all the same. To this point, I think I do pretty well at what I do. I hear of other Kitfox pilots doing things I sometimes wish I could do - light aerobatics, extreme short field stuff like behind the power curve full stall landings on river beds and the famous uphill landing at Mile High. (I tried that only backward when I destroyed my first Model IV in an emergency landing. I opted to approach over the power lines that made my landing down hill - In a clearing surrounded by oak trees. I couldn’t find the ground and finally had to plant it rather than challenge the trees. It was poor processing of the information and an error in judgment.) Some of us are Yeagers or Sullengergers, some are more like me, and hopefully none are like my employees father. When helping with my neighbors Lancair IV, a lot of guys were dying in their Lancairs and some still do. I had a discussion on line with a guy who was already flying. He was ex military and felt that anyone could fly a Lancair IV. I tried to point out to him that he was a product of a very selective pilot training program and as such was very likely an above average pilot with superior training. He didn't buy it. To him, it was easy and anyone could do it. It was like if you can afford the kit, and have the endorsements you can fly it. I don’t think so and my friend doesn’t either. We talk about it a lot.

In short, I love my Kitfox. I wonder sometimes why anyone would go elsewhere, but they do, and they also love their choices. Tailwheel or tricycle? Consider your mission and everything else and love your choice.

Lowell