The Murphy Builders Site

I also did my transition training in the 115 HP Citabria - the Rebel
compares very favorably with that. Our location in the foothills of the
western Rockies and a very capable instructor (now sadly deceased from
cancer) had me doing direct crosswind landings in gusty winds above 25
knots in the Citabria. The Rebel is every bit as good and I use it
frequently at my home airport with nasty crosswinds. It doesn't get any
better than that.

Garry
068R

bransom@dcsol.com wrote:

I got my tailwheel endorsement last week. In a Citabria. I bunched it all
into one week in order to combine it with a week off visiting my Dad and a
much closer drive to a tailwheel place than where I live. It was actually
much more challenging than I anticipated. My GA time is very low, and 0
within last 6 years. Also I don't think my thousands of ultralight
(taildragger) landings helped any. Too much slower and practically no gyro
precession as it flies off too easily without fussing with lifting the tail
first, not to mention light prop.

I just searched back through the archives briefly to skim some of the
experience here on Rebel tailwheel behavior. Was a little relieved to see
some posts such as from BobP and others regarding the very solid 3-point
capability in crosswinds, as my wheel landing the Citabria has a ways to go
before being able to count on em. Any comment on how the Rebel take-off
and landings compare to Citabria 115hp?
-Ben



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Garry, I'm curious if your heavy crosswind training was wheel landings or
3-point. And Bob, I'm assuming 3-point in crosswind you are doing so with
upwind wing held low. In 20knots from the side and bleeding to 40knots
airspeed, that must be quite a bank angle!

I felt my instructor, although maybe a great pilot, was a terrible teacher.
He was always behind what I was doing, and made a big deal out of 'Don't
let the tailwheel hit first!'. So on the first day I'd release a little
back pressure on the stick and end up bumping 2-3 times between mains and
tail with too much energy. By quirk in the schedule, my second day was
with the chief pilot and he said 'what the hell is he talking about --
every single plane on this field (tail or tri) is landed by bleeding off
all energy till ideally the stick/yoke is all the way back as it touches
down. First time around with him and a few quiet '...hold it off, ...keep
holding it off', and 3-pointer greasers were pretty much in the bag.
-Ben

I also did my transition training in the 115 HP Citabria - the Rebel
compares very favorably with that. Our location in the foothills of the
western Rockies and a very capable instructor (now sadly deceased from
cancer) had me doing direct crosswind landings in gusty winds above 25
knots in the Citabria. The Rebel is every bit as good and I use it
frequently at my home airport with nasty crosswinds. It doesn't get any
better than that.

Garry
068R

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This thread presents a good opportunity to repeat, IMHO, that, after reading
several other books, I found that the best book on tailwheel ops is _The
Compleat Tailwheel Pilot_ by Harvey Plourde, available from many sources,
including Amazon: *<http://tinyurl.com/4ors7m/>* I trained in a
taildragger, and found this book was clearly written, well-organized, in
synch with my tailwheel-specialist CFI's advice -- invaluable.

Ron




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This book and many others is also available through the RBL Book Store
(selfless plug)... there is a link on the archive site main page. I'd love
to grow the book store with your suggestions too.

RBL Book Store

Mike

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Shannon" <rshannon@cruzcom.com>
To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 9:08 AM
Subject: Re: [rebel-builders] tailwheel behavior?

This thread presents a good opportunity to repeat, IMHO, that, after
reading
several other books, I found that the best book on tailwheel ops is _The
Compleat Tailwheel Pilot_ by Harvey Plourde, available from many sources,
including Amazon: *<http://tinyurl.com/4ors7m/>* I trained in a
taildragger, and found this book was clearly written, well-organized, in
synch with my tailwheel-specialist CFI's advice -- invaluable.

Ron




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