(B)FR and Tailwheel Training (who knows what my RV future may require!) Right Rudder Aviation - Inverness, FL RV-15 Training Part 1

(B)FR and Tailwheel Training (who knows what my RV future may require!) Right Rudder Aviation – Inverness, FL RV-15 Training Part 1

As this month rounds out (2) years of having my instrument ticket it was time for a flight review. What was once called a “biennial flight review” has now been changed to a “flight review” per the FAA in an effort to encourage pilots to get instruction more frequently than every 2 years.

I figured I would go on an aviation vacation and get a tailwheel endorsement instead of just a normal (B)FR bouncing around the local patch. Right Rudder Aviation at KINF has a serviceable PA-11 that they offer training in. Sunday morning my training day started out meeting Hunter, my 19 year old, newly minted CFI at the FBO at 9:00. After about ten minutes of pulling all the other training aircraft out of the hangar he had the cub sitting on the ramp. A quick preflight aided by the checklist and we loaded up. Hunter took the controls for the first take off from the pavement on runway 19 before we headed north to X35 Marion County to use their grass strip located just to the south of Runway 10/28. I suggested it would be a good idea that I do some stall practice on the way there so I would know what to be on the lookout for as I approached X35 for landings. We did a few stalls and continued on. Located to the south of runway 10/28 at X35 there is a rather wide strip of grass/dirt that the airport maintains for training. You won’t find this grass runway listed on the Chart Supplement but I can assure you we landed on it about 15 times. We notched out some 3 point landings in the grass followed by the pavement runway. Next we did some wheel landings on the grass followed by the pavement runway. After pumping some fuel we headed back to KINF. On the way back I figured it would be a great time to do a few spins. Hunter took the controls after we climbed to 4,500′ and did a “Cub-nado” as he referred to it. We spun a few times and recovered in about 500′ of altitude loss. I took the controls and we climbed back to altitude and spun the airplane again. As I had never previously done spin training it was interesting to experience the recovery as we approached the only marking on the airspeed indicator, a red line at 120 mph. The Cub was slow in all aspects of flight until you point the nose straight down. It picked up speed quick! Shortly thereafter we were back at Inverness where I did a wheel landing and the flight was over. We left the Cub on the line ready for its next flight and headed in for an hour of ground. Overall it was a great experience. They currently get $129 a hobbs hour for the Cub, $69 an hour for tailwheel instruction, and $45 an hour for ground instruction.

The technique for takeoff in the Cub:

Method A.

Push in full power while holding full back pressure on the stick.
Wait 4-5 seconds and push FULL forward on the stick to raise the tail and accelerate to 40-45 mph.
Rotate.

Method B.

Hold full back pressure on the stick while applying full power.
Wait until the airplane begins to climb and use the elevator as required for the climb.

3-Point landing in the Cub:

Fly the airplane down to a few feet above the ground and keep pulling pressure until a full stall where all 3 wheels touch down at the same time.

Wheel Landing in the Cub:

Fly the airplane to a few feet above the ground at around 60-70 mph and let it bleed off speed.
Arrest then descent and let the main gear touch the ground.
Push forward on then stick until the airspeed diminishes and the tail drops.
Now hold full back pressure.

Spin Recover:

P – ower (close throttle)

A – ilerons (neutral)

R – udder (full deflection in opposite direction of spin)

E – levator (first stick forward to unstall the wing then easy pull to level or climb)

3.5 hours of flying.

25 landings

Fun Level: Excellent!

Endorsements: Tailwheel and Flight Review