Tailwheel training testimonial

Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2002 11:49:08 -0500
From: Bob Esser
Subject: [DCPILOTS] PIREP Tailwheel training w/Tony Markl

First why I wanted tailwheel training:
I am trying to decide what sort of plane to buy, and do not want to rule out tailwheel planes just because they have the nosewheel on the wrong end. I also explained to Tony that I wanted remedial training in stalls and airplane handling. We just recently did spins, and I will include that in a paragraph later.

The instructor:
Tony Markl is the epitome of 'Crusty Old Airforce/Airline Pilot.' "Last time I flew a nose wheel plane was in '91 and that was a 727." He has gobs of experience, and clearly loves passing it on. He is hard nosed (like you would expect from ex Airforce), which is good for me, and doesn't coddle people. He also doesn't do cookie cutter endorsements. You have to learn to fly the plane in a variety of situations (read crosswinds). He also makes sure you know what is going on before the flight.  The preflight briefing is very thorough and includes many questions and mini quizzes.

The airplane:
The plane is a L-16, which is a militarized Aeronca Champ with 90HP. It is also carefully restored to just out of the factory condition, and the military paint gives it tons of cool factor. If you are used to C150/152 with 100 to 115 HP, you may think 90 HP is too few (which I was and did) but, it really is amazing how much power this plane seems to have. In fact for training on takeoffs, we are now doing 65 HP takeoffs so that the roll is long enough to actually have to do something. The plane has no electrical system, so there is no additional distractions from radio communications. This also means that you learn to be a good helper while someone hand props the engine. The plane also has this thing called adverse yaw. I grew up on C152s, and while I had heard of this stuff (adverse yaw), I had really no idea what it meant. The Champ will make sure you know what it means, and just what those pedals are for (hint: not to get in the way of stretching out).

...

The training so far:
I am a low time pilot (about 90 hours), and as I mentioned before, I wanted some remedial training to go along with the tailwheel endorsement. I have a personal aversion to stalls. Each lesson has included a mix of airplane handling and takeoffs and landings. Lots of takeoffs and landings. In a way, it is like primary training, or at least, how mine should have been. Depending on the winds, we have been going from Ridgely to Easton. At first, we were seeking out less crosswinds, but, now, we are seeking a moderate crosswind.  

...

One day, we did power off stalls from Ridgely to Easton. On the trip back, we did steep turns. Tony calls anything less than 60 degrees a medium turn. In primary training, 45 degrees was the limit on steep turns, so this was a bit of new territory.

Yesterday, we did power on stalls and spins. For training purposes, power on was just normal cruise power since full power would put the nose very high. This made me sweat some as I don't like stalls much. Lots of work on the rudder pedals keeping things coordinated and correcting my over corrections. Lots of over corrections. Then we did spins.

I was afraid of spins, and this is probably why I was afraid of stalls-- because you could get into a spin. Tony did the first one. It was a bit unnerving. He also did the second one. It was not bad, and a bit interesting. You mean, that's it? That is the terror? I did the third one and it was still interesting, but not frightening. I also did the fourth one, and on the second flying portion of the day, I did the fifth one and the sixth one. I want a plane that climbs really fast so I can do more spins. I strongly recommend that anyone that hasn't done any spins go out and find an instructor and do some. They aren't awful, and I think they are kind of fun!

The only bad thing that I can think of is the long drive to Ridgely to meet up with Tony.

--Bob Esser, Ph.D., Washington, DC

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