Advice on Taildragger flying
 

Hey yall I'm a 60 hour (in Maule Mxt-7's) private pilot at a Part 141 school. I've recently began my tailwheel transition and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I have trouble with getting squirrely and kindof swerving back and forth on both the end of the takeoff run, after the tail comes up, and on the landing a couple seconds after touchdown. I try to go easy on my rudder inputs but I still seem to swerve.. Any suggestions from the seasoned tailwheel guys? :)

I'm on an iPhone so I'll keep it brief.

-when you raise the tail you WILL need right rudder and depending on the plane you will need a healthy dose. Anticipate that and simultaneously as you raise the tail start feeding in a bit of right rudder pressure and increase the pressure as needed.

-shift your gaze to the end of the runway. If you are looking further away it will make it much easier to see subtle changes in nose drift.

-Keep your feet dancing. I always move both feet on t/o and lndg just to be "ready". Not enough to move the rudders but enough to have active feet. It should be the same as if you are driving your car down the road you can lightly shimmy the wheel without feeling the car move.

It will come, it just takes hours. The best and most rewarding part regarding tailwheel is that you never master it which is what makes it always interesting.

Don't over control
 

Most people over control. They use too much rudder input, then counter it with too much in the opposite direction. Steady (not jerky) consistent corrections are the ticket. The size of the rudder and amount of crosswind will dictate the amount of control pressure.

Tailwheels are a blast! Have fun!

Good advice
 

This is good advice. In general, avoid introducing big transients. That means that if you're doing something that you know is going to cause yaw (such as raising or lowering the nose) then apply a bit of preventative rudder. As you learn any new taildragger, you'll figure out how much rudder to apply. You don't have to get it exactly right...just enough feedforward rudder to keep the residual excursions small.

The residual excursions, plus whatever is induced by crosswind, gusts, bumps, etc. you can just "dance out" with small rudder movement.

But above all, stop any yaw rate early.

This is probably the most important point.

Good stuff. Great advice here.
I'll add only two things.

1. With the right airplane (like a Maule) and a bit of humble approach, most taildraggers will open up the world below you as far as exploration. Especially out West. Just take it slow. Don't get cocky. Many newly minted taildragger pilots get bit by that one.

2. This is the important one I've got- When flying a dual control outfitted taildragger of whatever make- make sure your compatriot has their feet off the rudder pedals and brakes- especially before takeoff and landing.

In a side by side configuration like a Maule or Cessna- look over and make sure. In a tandem like a Cub or Citabria- run your hand behind you along the floor and feel that their feet are away from the important stuff. It's a good one to add to your GUMPS type of deal. Pax feet OFF!

Great advice from everyone, the airplane I'm flying in particular is a Citabria. Kilgore you fly a beaver? You do much bush flying? My eventual goal is to get into that kindof thing. Probably gonna pack it up to Alaska all bright-eyed and bushytailed in a couple thousand hours :p.

Hi Razorback,
Thanks for the reply. You've got a lot of really good advice above from some very talented pilots. Take it to heart and have fun.

I appreciate the fact that you have sent a sort of personal reply out to those who have responded. Nothing gets my goat on APCF like some of the turkeys that come on here and ask for some kind of feedback without even a howdy to let you know if they liked the advice they got or not. Dang old crickets and you kind of wonder if they ended up in the pines.

It would be really cool to hear how your taildragger flying is going when you get a chance.

With that in mind, please take all advice on here with a grain of salt. Ain't no thing like the real thing in other words. Get out there with that Maule or Citabria and your instructor and learn what works best for you. Nothing is written in stone as far as individual pilot approaches to real stick and rudder stuff. I have a heck of a time describing in words how I land a taildragger without too much drama.

My resume- well I've probably plastered enough of it around on here. Do have a few hours muddling around in AK crud in various winged critters.
Thanks for asking. PM me if you need specific SE AK info.

Be safe and have fun Razorback. Keep learning.

Excellent plane to learn in. I have quite a few hours in the Citabria/Scout/Super Decathlon. It is a nice honest airplane that is fairly mild in its ground handling. It gives great forward visibility and responds well to your inputs.

An overall excellent choice for a first tailwheel. You will have it fairly well under control in no time.

Razorback, your avatar just reminded me that more than one old timer has told me that they had it all backwards during WWII flight training in tailwheel airplanes. You should start out in the P-51, move to the AT-6, and end up with the Stearman.