Roundsounds

I reckon if you have the chance to do your initial flight training in a taildragger take it. You'll learn some great skills: being aware of surface wind speed and direction - starting on the drive to the airport and ending after you've secured the aircraft in a hangar or tied it down. Anticipating turns, minimising use of brakes whilst taxiing or else you'll wear them out! How to control the effects of slipstream and P factor - modern trainers tend to display only subtle effects At times you will need full rudder to keep the aeroplane straight, this comes in handy on multi-engine aeroplanes in the event of an engine failure on takeoff. Understanding / anticipating adverse yaw and how to fly an aeroplane in balance (again, helps with control during asymmetric flight) Taildraggers are often aerobatic - therefore good spin awareness trainers Most taildraggers side-slip well, side slipping is an essential skill for crosswind operations - whether you use crab, wing down or combination technique Speed control and aim point retention on final approach is essential if you're going to land without running out of runway doing three point landings Establishing a consistent landing attitude, each tailwheel type has only 1 attitude for a three point landing. Nose wheel types will accept almost any attitude and inconsistent results Correct use of controls during rollout on landing - most nose wheel aeroplanes will accept letting go of controls, which may bite you one day. These are a few of the basic skills I believe a taildragger demands of pilots. These skills are not beyond the average trainee, taildraggers are just not tolerant of slack pilots or instructors whereas tricycles can be most of the time.

Is it near Cowra?

I don't know where the warp speed approach technique came from? The best way is to fly the same approach as you would for a three pointer, but delay reducing power in the flare.

Queenstown TAS?

I agree Happy Flyer, having done several thousand hours of tailwheel training in a broad range of types I do find it is predominantly individual pilot ability / perception. Using the same briefing and demo in a given type some pilots take to wheelers and others don't, although not to the same degree I've seen the same with three pointers. The Cessna 180/185 is a classic for this observation. Most trainees can do wheelers, but occasionally you'll get one who will get impatient and try to put it on with too high a sink rate, start bouncing and get out of phase trying to correct it. I agree with Nev, the Tiger was designed to be three pointed, but on all ove fields and into wind on grass. I personally prefer to do tail down wheelers in a Tiger on sealed runways or in crosswinds. Into wind, on other than sealed runways, I like to three point them - when you reach the three point attitude they'll usually give a bit of buffet and sit comfortably on all three points. Heavier machines like the Beech 18 can be three pointed, but you've got to be very current and be spot on the right speed or you'll use up a heap of runway in the hold off, whereas wheeling you can be a bit more accurate with the touchdown point. You feel very vulnerable in that phase just prior to touchdown, particularly if the breeze is gusting.

You were quite safe flying TMK when MGFS operated it. After leaving that org' it went to Melbourne where it had a forced landing which tore a lower wing off, the upper wing wasn't inspected properly. The undetected damage subsequently resulted in the inflight breakup in WA. But, as you say you really need to know the history of an aircraft of that age and who's maintaining it if you're going to start throwing it around. The same applies to the wooden spar Citabrias, Decathlons and Scouts. The ribs are nailed to the spar, if operated outside limits (high G, over weight or over VMO in rough air) the nails work their way out and the aluminium ribs cut into the spar.

Bede 17 or 22?

G'day Ron, are you ex ATC and learnt to fly at Camden?

If you're happy to go GA give Hazair in Albury a call. They've got a DeHavilland Chipmunk under refurbishment and should be flying very soon, if not now. Not necessarily the best prep for a T18, but one of the nicest aeroplanes you'll ever fly. With the right instruction and enough practice you should be able to fly most/all tailwheel types. I too am a little concerned about the understanding you can adequately complete a taildragger endorsement in one day. You need time between sessions to let the skills sink in, then go back to it several times to reinforce the skills and gain exposure to a range of conditions. Funnily enough, so called benign conditions (calm / light and variable wind) seem to be as common a factor in ground loops as challenging conditions. I reckon it's cause the pilot thinks it's all too easy half way through the rollout and start looking for taxiways, raising flaps, changing frequencies etc and before they know it they've lost it. Remember you are flying the aircraft until it's either tied down or locked in the hangar!

Akromaster, there's an RAAus FTF at Wangaratta operating an Aeronca Champ. If you're thinking T18, this would be a good outfit to fly with. The owner also happens to own a T18, along with a bunch of other tail draggers.

Totally agree, we only need 1 rule: don't crash or annoy the general public. How that rule is obeyed is up to those committing aviation.

The solution is education and to develop the right culture, not by introducing more and more regulations. RAAus has a huge collection of incident reports, yet I don't see any published overall analysis of these reports regarding common causes or contributing factors. An analysis of the incidents would easily identify any common threads, the organisation then develops suitable training packages to address these causes or adopts those of say the FAA. The training might be in he form of presentations at safety forums, online videos, articles for inclusion in Sport Pilot or discussions at flight review time. All material should be made accessible in an online library via the website for past, current and future generations of pilots as reference material. By ongoing analysis of incident report data the effectiveness of the training can be measured and tweaked as needed. Members are already trying to do their own analysis by continually seeking the publication of information about incidents. RAAus and its members would be in a better place with this proactive approach rather than "hunkering down and emulating a tortoise"

Andy, despite the statement that your comments do not directly relate to the incident triggering this thread, they are inappropriate. Given your involvement as a Board member, I thought you would have better judgement.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/pilot-dies-in-light-plane-crash-in-hunter-valley-20150523-gh81qw.html

Billy carts and push / dirt bikes are great things, they teach kids there may be consequences going too fast into a corner or not watching where you're going - and sometimes it hurts. Unlike the simulated versions kids play now, just hit reset and go again. Can't do that in your fully sick Subaru after you plow into another car.

I've done a lot of tailwheel instruction and could often pick people who rode billycarts for the reasons you mentioned. My dad taught me to fly and I had a billycart as a kid, I couldn't understand why we built it with a crossbar to rest your feet on and steered using rope. I now understand why! Although trikes work in the same sense as a billycart, that creates some fun situations when converting those pilots onto 3 axis.

Noorduyn Norseman?

Frank, I couldn't agree more. The only thing I would add being - able to recognise the things that should get your attention before they turn nasty. eg crossed controls at the wrong time, effects of hot temp and high elevation and plan ahead - I call them the "what ifs" what will I do if all goes well on this take off or if I have a partial engine failure or a door pops open. You can think these things through in the lounge chair at home rather than at 200' AGL. A much better use of brain capacity and study time than Bernoulli versus Newton.

HappyFlyer, in the past I would've agreed, however now I wouldn't be as confident as you regarding your comments about CASA not acting. Post the following into your web browser and read the executive summary at least. ombudsman.gov.au/files/casa_final_report_2015_april.pdf This report released in April 2015 addresses the matter of CASAs past inaction to Coroner's recommendations. The Federal Govt has recently issued CASA with a requirement to regularly report on their response to Coroner's recommendations. I'm not being an alarmist, just a realist. The past "head in the sand" method of management hasn't proven very effective for the organisation from my observations.

Andy / HFlyer - you seem to be missing the point here, if we (RAAus) don't demonstrate to CASA that we are doing some form of auditing of maintenance records CASA will. As an instructor you can elect to opt out of doing flight reviews for aircraft owners, the process is not about being a policemen or taking on liability it's about whether there is a logbook for the aircraft and whether there are any recent entries in it. Here is an extract from a very recent Coronial report: Also, whilst it is accepted that there are limited resources, it is recommended that CASA review its delegation to RA-Aus in terms of what is expected of them in screening and auditing aircraft documentation, which is submitted by its members. Random audits by RA-Aus would be appropriate to assist in the deterrence aspect, but further funding needs to be provided for this purpose, or CASA should consider undertaking such audits itself. Do we really want CASA doing our audits? I'm not sure if you've seen the Ombudsmans report on CASA's response to Coroner's recommendations, but you can bet if we don't get proactive CASA will!

This is why I suggested completing a review of the aircraft log book as part of the owner's flight review. If RAAus doesn't do random audits of maintenance records CASA will. This has been raised recently by both the Coroners office and CASA. RAAus is better being proactive and keeping CASA out of the picture, this way it can be a simple and low key affair. As you may / may not know the CASA system is more interested in the paper trail rather than the standard of workmanship when it comes to maintenance. A quick thumb through an aircraft log book and completion of an online form by a suitably trained instructor would not add any cost to the operation. I am confident this would satisfy the requirements of CASA, to the best of my knowledge the only time aircraft log books are now reviewed by RAAus is following an incident.

I'd suggest when owner/pilots front up for their flight review a suitably trained instructor could also do a brief review of the aircraft log books. I reckon anyone not complying is probably just not sure of how to complete a log book more than any other reason. The aircraft I fly run a photocopied GA maintenance release. This serves 2 purposes, it allows RAAus pilots to become familiar with GA processes, keeps a running tally of flight times and lists maintenance due dates / times.

FT - try entering this into your web browser: grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/WindTunnel/Activities/lift_formula.html

It's all just magic....

Aside from pilots knowing about the relationship of angle of attack, airspeed, surface area and the effects of ice / damage on lift - the theorems of Bernoulli, Newton or the hangar cat are neither here nor there. I'm sure there are way more important things we could fill our / student's brains with.