Tailwheel landing practice in the Luscombe

[@philrutherford6486]

Here is what I did when I was trying to learn wheel landings in my Cessna 170B. On every takeoff, I'd pushed the nose down to keep it on the ground and centerline for most of the length of the runway before taking off. I even learned to reduce power and "cruise" the centerline then add power and go around for another. I would land 3 points then repeat the "cruise" down the centerline. Soon, I felt comfortable pushing that nose down and keeping my tail up during landing. Another trick to keep the nose from suddenly going right is when you have your wheels on the ground, slowly reduce the throttle instead of a sudden reduction of power. That's because your nose will go right suddenly if you yank off the power and you'll have to correct quickly. Why add that to an already touchy landing. Wait till you start learning X-wind landings, that's when the fun really starts. Good luck.

[@chucklemasters6433]

first thing i do when introducing pilots to tailwheel landings is fly the centerline.. surprising how few pilots have ever been asked to do this maneuver. i find that if you can't fly the centerline in ground effect with proper xwind inputs you are not even close to being prepared to put the wheels on the ground. touching the runway is prohibited until they can hold the centerline with aileron while keeping the longitudinal axis aligned with opposite rudder and keeping a level pitch attitude in ground effect with pitch/power combination. there are so many important things you learn while perfecting this maneuver. i can't believe it is not required for even the private pilot checkride.

[@Luscombe47x]

Hey, nice Silvaire. I owned mine for almost 20 years. A '47 8E "Deluxe" with C85 and 15 gallon tanks. I was a new private pilot with a very fresh tail wheel checkout when I adopted 47X. spent over 500 hours in that left seat including a coast to coast and return flight. In that interval I spent 2+ years based at Santa Fe NM flying out of high elevation strips. Just a wonderful airplane that really taught me how to fly.

[@bleudie173]

I inherited a luscombe 8a from my grandpa after he taught me to fly for around 50 hours. Im 15 and have a new flight instructor with the same plane. I am going to college and getting an a&p so i can work on the plane. I really want to install electrical systems and a starter on it so i can fly without someone else with me. Do you have a clue if this is easy or possible?

[@sergior4498]

At 16yrs old I learn how to fly in a Luscombe in Argentina. Grass runway, often to land we had do a flyover first to scatter the cows out of the way. Worst part after landing... I was in charge of cleaning the cow dung splashed on fuselage, wings and undercarriage. Small price to pay for all the fun though.

[@psjasker]

That thing is downright beautiful!

[@paladinhill]

Beautiful Luscombe... we have one just like it at KANP. Your first landing was impressive; it appeared to be a perfect 3 pointer... which is what you u always strive for. Once in 1968, a CFI told me, "you always fly the tail first, then the wings"... think about that. On take off, you add power, then you fly the tail first by pushing the stick forward to get that tail off the ground. That act will also decrease your AOA and cause your mains to leave the earth, with little to no back pressure. On landing, don't pump the stick back and forth trying to force the mains or tail on the ground... instead, just maintain a stable attitude and hold it off, 3 inches above the ground, for as long as possible, stick FULL BACK, trying to land long, and she will settle into a perfect 3 pointer every time (if there is no crosswind). Let me know how that works for you. My Dad & I both had "3 Time": him in a DC-3 and me in a J-3... many years ago. BTW, I was very impressed with your Cessna detailing video.

[@ericott5779]

Great video- my only comment is to EASE the throttle in - don't jam it 6:35.

[@daszieher]

Indeed! It is very important for later, on complex aircraft with constant speed props. If you jab in the throttle, you can overspeed the engine.

[@wallabybob3020]

That is one beautiful aircraft!

[@Tiauguinho]

Really enjoying this series!

[@scottwillson5562]

Looking forward to seeing the polishing process on this. Also you're getting much better!

[@Yellow_cub]

Beautiful airplane!

[@fanekoman8288]

Well Done!!

[@deepsixman]

Thanks for the video. 65hp?

[@nathangreer8219]

Fantastic vid. I'm 40 hours in on both tailwheel and my Luscombe. 150 landings later, I'm still working on maintaining centerline upon landing.

[@AvianaAircraft]

Keep it up! Its crazy to see now how much my rudder is working without me realizing it!

[@trbeme1346]

When I first starting flying, my CFI and I went to an airstrip that was 3200 feet long and 60 feet wide. I was all over the place due to not using subtle rudder movements and being behind in the controls. My home airstrip was my Dad's grass runway 2475 feet long with varying widths of 30 feet to 60 feet. On top of that, prevailing winds had me come over the tops of trees and power lines 200 feet before the beginning of the airstrip. Plus if you were not on centerline, you would get a very rough ride due 17 years where my Dad didn't maintain his grass air strip (hence many gopher holes that I worked to get smoothed out). Those challenges helped me be able to maintain centerline quite a bit more. One of the things my CFI said was apply just enough pressure to the rudder to get it to do what you want. Once he told me that, it made sense to me as prior to that I was jamming the rudder left and right and then trying to play catch up all the time. You have a great looking plane.

[@LimaOneNiner]

Wheel landings require way more speed to keep elevator authority and the tail up. Try keeping power and touch mains at 50 to 55mph and as soon as they touch stick forward which plants them and keeps tail up. As soon as mains touch you are going to have to give it right rudder because of pfactor and torque now that plane is on ground. Then just ride it at with tail up and add full power to go around or bring power back and keep moving stick forwars to keep tail up. Once it slows down enough tail will drop then stick full aft.

[@AvianaAircraft]

Yea I am finding that usually I end up in a tail-low wheel landing. It seems like 60mph is minimum for a good tail high wheel landing.

[@Dr.GeoDave]

Pretty plane

[@chucklemasters6433]

i like to just keep almost zero back pressure on the stick on takeoff roll. when the tail starts to come up just very light back pressure with a couple of fingers and it flies off beautifully every time. most taildraggers are sitting at Vy even before you get in the plane. if you just leave it there on takeoff then every ounce of energy created by the prop is converted to lift. just one of the huge advantages of the taildragger, so why not put it to use for the most energy efficient takeoff. i have never been satisfied with any answer i received when asking about why you would want to lift the tail on takeoff. sure there are some conditions where raising the tail might be better such as gusty winds perhaps but i see no reason to raise it on normal takeoffs. also keep in mind that when you jerk the stick forward and back too abruptly you introduce gyroscopic precession which causes the nose to pull to the left. as you get more familiar with the plane you will anticipate required elevator inputs and do them more smoothly resulting in less precession.

[@Maxxtanz]

What’s your IAS when cruising at 2000rpm?

[@daszieher]

My question! I'd also like to know!

[@Pro2eus]

I hadn't seen your videos for a while, and it's great to see that you've got yourself a flying machine! (I'm just about to try putting on a ceramic coat on my cub type machine). Your landings are looking good, I see you mention your hesitancy to push forward on the stick when taking off. If you ever look how high you need to get the tail to strike the prop, you'll see you're unlikely to get that far nose down in normal operations. For visibility in mine, I go full stick forwards as soon as I'm rolling to get the tail up and so that I can see where I'm going, It feels unnatural at first but you'll soon get used to it. Also I'm based at a one way hill strip, I agree it is a different sight picture initially, but it's amazing how you get used to it, then you find wide long flat runways confusing.

[@AvianaAircraft]

I have been getting better about pushing stick forward early on the takeoff roll!

[@Neil_]

@@AvianaAircraft Just remember soft field, tail grass or large lumps could nose you over. In all the above best to let the tail come up on it's own, or even hold it tail low until it pops off and fly in ground effect. But yeah, normal ops, totally agree with what Pro is saying, with a few exceptions, the prop clearance is better than you think.

[@randyphelps8173]

Looking good. Somebody made an excellent fuel dipstick in passenger door pocket. Ha.

[@AvianaAircraft]

All I did was just recalibrate it 😂

[@AvianaAircraft]

I am guessing you are the previous owner Randy?

[@dougstates]

Make sure you make a video of the polishing project. A “how to” would be great!

[@AvianaAircraft]

You know I will. Just need to find time to start this project. In the meantime check out this video 033 - Restoring a 54 year old Cessna 206! kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2eym6h5i92An9E

[@planeofexistence7602]

where are you getting the vinyl stickers made?

[@AvianaAircraft]

I made them! Working on a store but it’s a low priority project.

[@DarinPaulKnives]

What tail wheel are you using on your Luscombe?

[@AvianaAircraft]

Scott 3200, soon to be replaced by a API 6131!

[@DarinPaulKnives]

@@AvianaAircraft I’d love to see a video on it once you change out. I have a 3200 on my 8F as well, and Im looking to find something with better geometry.

[@mikeperry2814]

Why not use some flaps?

[@AvianaAircraft]

No flaps on this bird

[@legoguy23451]

2:33 you gave me a heart attack