This page is for those of you trying to decide between the tailwheel RV-6 and the nosewheel-equipped RV-6A. It is also for anyone who is a little apprehensive about tailwheel airplanes.

For everyone else, let me devote a couple of paragraphs to explain: Once upon a time, almost all airplanes had the third wheel in the back. This third wheel was called the tailwheel. Tailwheel-equipped airplanes are known as taildraggers. This configuration is also known as conventional gear.

In the nineteen forties, airplanes began to appear with the third wheel at the front of the airplane instead of the back. That third wheel is called the nosegear, and this configuration is called tricycle gear. (Tailwheel pilots enjoy calling the nosegear a training wheel.)

It is true that tricycle gear is easier to land and more forgiving of poor landing technique. The center of gravity is ahead of the two main landing gear, so the laws of physics dictate that when the airplane touches down with it's longitudinal axis pointed a little off center, or there is a little sideways drift, the airplane will tend to automatically align itself properly. The other positive factor is that when the mains touch down, inertia causes the nosegear to keep coming down until it touches too. The result is that the wing's angle of attack is reduced, keeping the airplane from inadvertently becoming airborne again.

Conventional gear is just the opposite. The center of gravity is behind the main gear. If you touch down with the longitudinal axis pointed a little off center, or there is a little sideways drift, the laws of physics dictate that the airplane wants to switch ends. In addition, if you touch down on the main gear first (called a wheel landing), the tail keeps on coming down, raising the angle of attack of the wing, and making the airplane want to fly again.

OK, given these disadvantages, why would you choose a taildragger over a tricycle-gear airplane? There are several reasons:

• Utility:. That nosewheel is pretty delicate. Ya don't see many bush planes with tricycle gear do ya?
  
  
• To become a better pilot: If you have never flown anything but a tricycle gear airplane, then you don't really know how to land. I didn't. A perfect three-point landing is an intricate ballet, and learning how to perform one (and yes, it is a performance), will put you in closer touch with your airplane and its surroundings.
  
  
• Ego: Yup, I admit it. That tailwheel gives you a license to swagger a little bit. On those days when the wind is blowing hard straight across the runway and my landing scares even me, someone is saying, "Now there goes a real pilot". (What they don't know is that there goes a really scared pilot.)
  
  
• Appearance: Some airplanes just look better with a tailwheel than with a nosewheel. The Piper Pacer is a very pretty airplane. The Tri-Pacer on the other hand, was nicknamed the Flying Milkstool. This is the real reason I chose the tailwheel RV-6 over the nosewheel RV-6A. I just think the RV-6 is a sexier looking airplane.
  
  

Don't let the notion of a taildragger scare you just because you've never flown one. You've probably never flown a twin either, but you know that with some training and practice you could master it. The same is true for the tailwheel. If I can learn to land a taildragger, you can too.

When I decided to build an RV-6, I had exactly ZERO hours of tailwheel time. I knew that I would be renting airplanes while I was building, so I decided that if I were renting an airplane, it might as well be a tailwheel airplane.

The FBO across town offered a tailwheel transition course, and the rental rate on their Aeronca 7DC Champ was reasonable. After about 10 hours in the Champ, the CFI signed me off. Interestingly enough, that next (solo) flight in the Champ was probably the most anxiety-filled flight I've ever made. There I was, all alone in the FBO's beloved little Champ on a hot Arizona afternoon with a gusting crosswind. In another 10 or 15 hours, I got pretty comfortable in the Champ. I was beginning to feel like the airplane and I were beginning to understand each other. That was when another less fortunate pilot wrecked it. The FBO spend two years putting the Champ back together. In the meantime, I switched to their Cessna 120.

The Cessna 120 was a lot more airplane than the Champ. It was faster, quieter, and handled crosswinds a lot better. I logged about 50 hours in the Champ and the 120. Both airplanes taught me a lot, and each of them humbled me on more than one occasion. I learned that the most important rule in a taildragger is that if you screw up a landing, get the stick/wheel all the way back and use the rudder to keep the nose straight. A tailwheel airplane will teach you what your feet are for.

I also learned that a perfect three-point landing is an intricate ballet. The objective is to simultaneously slow the airplane to its stall speed, arrest the descent, transition to an attitude where all three wheels are level, and touch down. Getting all four of those events to occur at exactly the same moment is a challenge, and one I rarely am able to completely fulfill. Practice makes perfect though, and it puts me in tune with my airplane like nothing else can.

A Wheel landing is one in which you touch down on the main gear only, and let the tailwheel come down slowly as you roll out. It wasn't until I started flying my RV-6 did I learn the secrets of good wheel landings. The first secret is that you want to try to touch down with a descent rate as close to zero as possible. (I wish my instructor had told me that during that tailwheel training. It would have saved me SO much embarrassment.)

The important thing to understand about wheel landings is that when the mains touch, inertia makes the tail want to keep descending. This causes the angle of attack if the wing to increase, which causes the wing to generate more lift. Which causes you to become airborne again, usually with almost enough airspeed to keep flying. Unless you either add power and go around or transition to a three-point attitude, the ensuing bounces down the runway will not be pretty. I, like most pilots, was taught to quickly apply a little forward stick when the mains touch. That will keep the tail from coming down. The second secret is this: instead of aggressively applying forward stick, just release a little of the back-pressure you are holding on that stick, and the airplane will remain stuck to the runway without that pitch-over that alarms your passengers.

Of the three tailwheel airplanes I have flown, the RV-6 is by far the most well-mannered, docile, forgiving airplane of the three. If you can handle the Champ, you'll have no trouble with an RV-6. I've botched landings bad enough that if I were in the Champ, she would have turned and viscously bit me. The RV-6 on the other hand, is much more forgiving. Just remember the mantra, "In the event of a botched landing, get the stick all the way back and keep the nose straight with rudder". If you do that, nothing bad will happen to anything but your pride.

My personal crosswind-component limit in the Champ was 10 knots. Anything more than that, I felt, was too much for my meager level of skill. In the RV-6 on the other hand, anything less than about 15 knots is almost unnoticeable once you are in ground effect.

Wheel landings seem easier too. It seems like that period of time between when the mains touch and when it is too late to apply forward stick (or less back-pressure) because the bounce has already begun is much longer in my RV-6 than it was in the Champ.

Yes, there are days when my friends in their nosewheel-equipped RV-6As are flying but I am not because the crosswinds are too strong or too gusty. Those days are extremely rare, and they are more than offset by the times when I make a nice smooth landing, and the guy in the passenger seat (who happens to be a pilot with lots more tailwheel time than I) says, "Ooooh, that was nice".

And there is something special about taxiing up to a group of tricycle-gear pilots, and cutting the mixture while simultaneously applying full rudder. The tailwheel goes into full castering and the airplane swivels around 90 degrees into its parking spot. Then I slide the canopy back, get out, and swagger a little bit as I walk over to them.