N36KJ Flies First Time

[bbs428]

Nice write up. Congratz on your 1st flight!

[jmodguy]

Awesome! Another Series 5 takes to the sky! Nice looking bird

[DesertFox4]

Happy you caught the issue Fred. That will help tame it down considerably. Enjoy the rest of your hopefully uneventful phase one.

[Cherrybark]

Oh man, those sound like some very high pucker factor landings. I'm sure you are enjoying takeoffs and landings much more with the corrected angles!

[Maverick]

I was thinking about Stick and Rudder...thanks!

Fwiw, I'm actually wondering if I should just transfer over to a tailwheel aircraft now while I'm still pretty low-time, as I'm pretty sure that's what I'll be flying anyway...thoughts?

I taught myself to fly a tail dragger in my very first homebuilt that was a single place plane. I was grandfathered in to the required tail wheel endorsement. I was in a perfect airplane to do that. In a Kitfox, I would never do that. If you are thinking you will be a TD pilot, get training in a good TD trainer, if not a Kitfox.

EAA published an article way back when EAA was all about homebuilt planes on how to train for TD pilotage. You get a couple of 2X4s and make yourself a T shaped cart. To describe this, think of the cart as though it were a T standing up. Center the vertical board on the horizontal with a single bolt through the two boards. Put large wheels on the ends of the horizontal board. Put a castor on the back end of the vertical board. Then attach a rope to a point on the vertical board about 2ft aft of the horizontal board. Make you a seat behind the rope attach point on the vertical board. Have a seat and use your feet to steer while someone is pulling you around. Keep the tail wheel on an imaginary line that you consider your runway center line.

After I did this the next step was do this in my plane. I did this on the ramp away from other aircraft and progressed as I became more confident to getting on the runway and speeding up a little more for 3 or 4 hundred feet. After I got used to the rudder becoming effective I began raising the tail and practiced keeping the plane centered for longer and faster speeds until I broke ground. I would then loose the throttle and settle down again repeating this until I decided I needed to know stall speed and kept climbing. Because my first landings on my practice crow hops were wheel landings I did not start 3 point landings until I was very comfortable with my stall speed and recognition of what they were like. After I got comfortable with 3-points, I started adding breaking.

Because my I learned in a plane smaller than my first other tail dragger, a Pietenpol GN1, I tended to over control a bit as it was slower to react to my steering inputs but adjusting accordingly was very quick. What I learned from all of this was the feel of becoming one with the airplane. Yet, never forget the adage, there are those that have ground-looped and those that will. After more than 500 hours of TD piloting I joined those that have recently. Fortunately with no damage to the plane of any consequence.
Fred

[Chris Scott]

Hey thanks for the info Fred...seems like a good (and cheap) way to get some tailwheel experience.

[Maverick]

I am still having a slight tendancy to role to the left. My inclination is turn the front rod end out one turn. What are your thoughts?