What’s the difference between taildraggers and tricycles?

The tricycle gear is by far the most common in the world. It is simpler and easier to use. A tail wheel takes a different set of skills. Pilots who fly taildraggers tend to have a little bit of pride because of this. Thus you may hear sayings like ‘real pilots fly taildraggers.’

Weight of the engine over the wheels

With a tailwheel airplane, the engine, where there is a huge amount of the weight of the airplane, is sticking out in front of where the wheels are. This creates kind of an instability with maneuvering, because so much of your weight is sticking outside of your wheelbase. If you do not keep complete control of the airplane, that weight can pull you in a way that you don’t want to go. 

In a tricycle gear airplane, the wight is balanced within the wheel base, giving you a lot more stability.

What could happen to a taildragger?

For example the wind could blow from the side, hitting the vertical fin at the back of the airplane. Because the airplane will want to pivot into the wind like a weather vane, this can cause the aircraft to swing around and probably break something if you do not put in the right corrections right away. In a nose wheel airplane, the front wheel makes it easy to correct for things like this, countering out the tendency of the tail to want to turn. But in a tailwheel airplane, the tailwheel is not very influential in this type of situation.

Are taildraggers dangerous?

In this way taildraggers could be considered more dangerous. However, if you are landing on a rough surface of any kind, many taildraggers will be better because the propeller is higher, therefor farther from anything getting thrown up at it. Also, because the tailwheel is directly connected to the frame, it can be stronger than a nose wheel that is just fixed underneath the engine compartment and is relatively fragile. You will notice that many airplanes used in isolated areas or bush bush flying kind of situations will be taildraggers. They are rugged and strong. And in my opinion, in general, taildraggers look cooler than tricycles.

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Cruise is what we call it when you’ve climbed to the right altitude and are heading towards where you want to go, in more or less a straight line. 

If your airplane has an autopilot, this is when you would turn it on.

Prepping for what’s next

The main use of time during cruise is setting up and getting ready for whatever comes next in your flight. 

During your cruise, you are continually checking your map, heading, and altitude, to make sure you are on course. When you reach a checkpoint, which is usually a noticeable landmark of some kind, there are several things you should do. 

-check and record the time

-adjust course if needed, towards your next checkpoint

-figure out if you have to adjust for wind at all

-check all your instruments, throttle setting, etc.

-make a radio call on the appropriate frequency so people know where you are.

If you are landing soon, you want to make sure you have all the information necessary for that airport, such as radio frequencies, runway directions, and special instructions for landing.

Navigation and figuring out where you are is something you are always keeping track of. It is critical to maintain a focused awareness of this during flying.

Oxygen

One thing is that is essential to figure out at a high altitude is your oxygen source. Once you get to a certain level of altitude the air is so thin that you need to breath extra oxygen. Some airplanes, like commercial jets, are sealed to the outdoors, so they pump air into the cabin. This is called a pressurized cabin. 

But on normal little planes without pressurization, you have a bottle full of oxygen, with a tube to some kind of mask. Every country has different laws about what altitude you need to use extra oxygen. But generally you will not need it if you are below 10,000 feet high.

Entertainment

After attending to your basic need to breath and fly responsibly, cruise means that there can often be long periods of time where you can safely turn your attention to other aspects of your journey.

Taking pictures is a super fun way to pass the time during cruise. Taking selfies, pictures of the sunset/rise, or cool stuff on the ground. There’s always something worthy of a photo from the sky! If you’re only a couple thousand feet up you might still be able to have cell signal too.

Using the bathroom is very entertaining, especially if the aircraft does not have one. You might have to get creative.

I have never listened to music while flying. There’s so much other stuff to do, and usually someone to talk too. Refreshing on the use of different flight instruments and solving problems will keep you busy too!

So now you know the basics of what happens in a cockpit during cruise. If you get a chance to fly, you can observe what the pilots are doing, and as always, if appropriate, ask lot’s of questions!

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Long answer, as follows. As much as you might think a parachute would come in handy in an emergency, it’s kind of a one in a million chance of ever needing one. We could compare it to wearing a helmet in a car. Sure it’s ‘safer’ but it’s more of an inconvenience than it is a help. 

Parachutes are bulky, uncomfortable, and basically a pain to carry around with you for general flying. Parachutes also require extensive training, so having random people jumping out of airplanes would likely cause a lot of injuries when people get to the ground.

The majority of incidents and accidents with small general aviation airplanes are not situations where you would ever use a parachute. They are often very close to the ground making a jump useless even with a parachute. But even without engine power, you will be able to land your plane, like a glider. In a field, a road, or even a lake. And for commercial airliners, the likelihood of evacuating a large amount of people in such a short time is almost impossible.

When an emergency happens to your airplane or a passenger, the first priority is to land the plane safely. If you just jumped out of your airplane whenever you had a problem, there’d be random planes falling out of the sky all over the place. And you wouldn’t have a plane anymore. That would be sad and (obviously) dangerous. Even if you ‘crash land’ your plane in a field, at least there’s a chance you could fix it up and use it again.

There are exceptions to this. Fighter pilots for example, have ejector seats, which rocket them out of harm’s way super fast and then let them float towards the ground relatively safely. With a fighter jet though, the problems you face are quite different from what can happen with a little Cessna. As you could imagine.

Aerobatic pilots as well may use a parachute, because there’s a higher likelihood that there could be structural damage to a wing or something. Or a control surface could stop working and the airplane could become uncontrollable. These are instances where a parachute would be helpful. But it is extremely rare, especially when flying a normal airplane in general aviation.

Another option for some small aircraft and ultralights, is a parachute for the whole airplane. You stay seated and when you deploy the chute, the whole aircraft floats to the ground.

Pilots are extensively trained on how to safely land in an emergency situation. As a normal general aviation pilot, the inherent safety training involved with getting your licence should eliminate a lot of potential problems. And out of the issues left over, you’re extremely unlikely to need to land the airplane in a field. So a time when you would want a parachute likely will never happen to the vast majority of pilots out there.

As far as my flying, so far I have never once worn a parachute. Here is a link to a video from one of my favourite pilot Youtubers, Trent Palmer, who gives some great thoughts on the controversial Trevor Jacob incident and whether or not a parachute is necesary.

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1. Pitch. This is the up and down motion of the nose of the aircraft. Similar to the motion of a teeter toter. The axis of this rotation is called the lateral axis. It’s as if there was a pole running inside the wing from one wingtip to the other, allowing the movement of the nose to go up and down.
2. Yaw. This is the left-right motion. Like when you turn a boat using the rudder. As if you had a pole running from the top of the plane to the bottom, allowing a left or right turn. This is called the vertical axis.
3. Roll. Just as it sounds, it is the rolling motion. When one wing goes down and the other goes up, that is a rolling movement. This axis of rotation is the longitudinal axis. It’s like running a pole from the back of the aircraft to the front. Like how you lean into a turn on a motorcycle.

I sketched the movement above, where the dot represents the axis it turns around.

The control yoke, or stick, controls two of these motions, the pitch and roll. When you pull back on the yoke or stick, the nose of the airplane will rise up, and when you push forward, it goes down. This is controlled by the control surfaces called the elevators, on the back of the airplane on the horizontal stabilizer. Your pitch directly affects your speed. The higher of a pitch you have, the slower you will be going. So in general when your nose is high you’re slower and when the nose is down you’re faster. There are ideal pitch configurations depending on the performance you are hoping for. We’ll talk about that later.

When you push the stick to one side (or turn it like a steering wheel if it’s a yoke) the aircraft will roll in that direction. This is because of the control surfaces on the wings, called ailerons. One will deflect upwards, and the other downwards, pushing against the air so the airplane rolls over. 

To turn, you actually use the roll motion by pushing your stick or yoke to the side. This motion transfers the lift from the main wings to the side, which pulls the aircraft around. The more of an angle you put the airplane into, the faster you will turn. 

The motion not controlled by the yoke/stick, is yaw. This is controlled by the foot peddles, which turn the rudder (attached to the vertical fin at the back of the plane) or the tail/nose wheel when you’re on the ground. Your rudder, or yaw, will just be used to coordinate every maneuver so you are not slipping or skidding when you don’t want to be. 

One of the first things you will practice as a learning pilot, is to hold the aircraft straight and level. This is a great thing to get really comfortable with, because you will spend the majority of your flying time in this attitude. The first time I had a chance to fly an airplane straight and level, I kept on overcorrecting, and ended up climbing a thousand feet over the course of some time. But as with everything, with practice and muscle memory, it will become second nature!

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Although the Ground School is very helpful for exposing you to new information, I recommend finding alternative ways to study as well, because a good pilot needs more than just basic theory, a good pilot wants to immerse in the topic from multiple angles!

There are some online ground schools that may be more user-friendly than the typical classroom setting. Additional books, podcasts, and practice exams can also be very helpful resources.

Ground School is usually offered as a course, completed a few hours at a time over a span of weeks or months. When you are finished the 40 hours, you will take a written exam. The exam will be 100 questions, with categories in Airlaw, navigation, meteorology (weather), and general knowledge. You need to get at least a total of 60 of the answers correct in order to pass, and at least 60% out of each category as well. If you get less than 60% in one category, even if your total is higher than 60% for the whole exam, you will not pass.

At the same time that you are working on your ground school, it’s a really good idea to start your flying lessons as well. Before you take the written exam, you’ll need to have at least 10 hours of flight time logged.

Your first flight will be fairly short. The instructor will take you up for about 25 minutes to show you some basic maneuvers. You will get a chance to fly the airplane for a while when you get to a safe altitude. This first flight is a good chance for your instructor to figure out what kind of person you are. Whether you are happy, excited, nervous, or sick, is a good indication of how to progress with your flight training in the future.

Your first 10-20 hours of flying will focus on basic maneuvers. 

• You will learn how to fly straight without gaining or losing altitude. 
• You’ll learn how to takeoff, turn, land.
• How to do emergency checklists.
• How to operate the radio.

When your instructor feels that you are ready, he will send you flying solo. This means, you will fly the aircraft by yourself! The requirements for going solo are that you are at least 14 years old, have a radio licence, a valid medical, and have passed an Airlaw test. These can all be accomplished with a little studying and a visit to a doctor.

After you have soloed, you move into a more complex, more fun stage of training, where your instructor will take you flying to show you something, and you’ll have an opportunity to practice it by yourself later on. (You won’t be able to take any passengers yet, that comes once you have your licence.)

When you are more comfortable with all the maneuvers and handling of the aircraft, you’ll go on your cross-country flight. You’ll likely fly to a couple airports nearby first to get familiar with a new place. Then for your actual cross country flight, you’ll fly a total of at least 150 nautical miles, and you’ll land at two other airports. These flights involve a lot of extra planning and preparation that you won’t have if you’re just flying around locally. You’ll fly the cross-country route with your instructor first, and then solo afterwards.

After you finish all of this, you’ll take your flight test. This is about an hour and a half long flight with an examiner, who will go through everything you have learned. As well, you will spend some time on the ground where the examiner will ask you all kinds of questions regarding your flight planning, weather preparation, etc.

This, in a nutshell, is the licensing process to get your Private Pilot’s Licence. It’s a combination of hard work, time, studying, and practice that prepare you to face flying single engine planes with confidence!

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