Taildraggers are fun … but unforgiving!
I learned flying in a taildragger – a 7ECA Citabria with a 115HP Lycoming engine. Back in the mid-90s, I used to learn flying in Morristown, NJ with an independent flight instructor who owned a Cherokee (PA-24). After a few rough sessions, I remember commenting to him that the Cherokee was a hard plane to fly – mostly with the low wing, increased ground effect etc (which I know now, but not back then). I remember him responding by saying that if I was really committed to being a skilled and safe pilot, that I should learn in a taildragger.
And I did.
Fortunately, most taildraggers today are high-wing (unlike the war birds of the past). Taildraggers are fun to fly – and quite unforgiving – particularly the Citabria. It robust, simple and hardy plane, and it certified for aerobatics (Citabria is essentially “Airbatic” read backwards). Most pilots end up learning on Cessnas. Citabrias are very different – they are stick and rudder (which, in my humble opinion, is a heck of a lot more intuitive and natural) – fabric over frame, and with very minimal and basic instrumentation.
Learning to fly on a taildragger is akin to learning to drive on a stick shift manual – and that’s the right way to do it. Moreover, flying the Citabria has taught me a lot – they are very unforgiving of pilot error, and hence they force pilots to learn good piloting skills.
Fundamentally, all taildraggers have their Center of Gravity behind the front wheels – which means that unless the plane is straight down the runway when landing, the plane will tend to weather-vane. This one time I was landing at Fresno International Airport with a 12 kt cross-wind. The plane wasn’t stabilizing with a wing-low approach, so I chose instead to do a landing while crabbing into the wind. I was just a fraction too late straightening the plane fully prior to touch-down, and the next thing I realized was that my plane’s tail was coming around behind me. It was very scary – I was quick enough to recover – full opposite rudder and full power, and I was back on track for a recovery take-off. I went around, and came back in – this time successfully. When I was taxing off the runway, I noticed how vigorously my legs were shaking.
The other advantage (or disadvantage) is that being a light and powerful plane, Citabrias WANT to fly! Landing then is not easy. This plane taught me another very important lesson – even the slighted excess speed at landing can really complicate landings. Powered landings in a Citabria are really hard (unless there is a strong headwind) – which is not the case in most other airplanes that are designed for power-on landings.
If you haven’t flown Citabrias or other taildraggers, trust me, they are fun! Incidentally, Steve Fossett loved the beefier cousin of the Citabrias – the Super Decathalon. His tragic accident is a mystery to most – but speculation is that he may have suffered a medical emergency. He was simply too skilled and experienced a pilot for any other plausible explanation for that fatal accident.
Would love to hear if you have any fun taildragger stories …
Srikant Sharma
