I have thousands of hours in tailwheel towing gliders. I stopped counting once the number of landings exceeded 10,000. Your instructor was excellent, really put things in simple terms. You did well.
nice instruction, he let you just fly since he knew you were a pilot. that's the type of instruction that's the best...putting some mild pressure on the student to do the right thing and to learn and not be spoon-fed like a baby. Excellent.
Getting a chance to learn how to fly again is a gift :) The taildragger will make you a better pilot! Been flying taildraggers for 40 years absolutely loving it! Thanks for the vid!
Excellent video and outstanding airplane. What a beauty. A tail dragger is a mental battle between you and the plane, like riding a horse that at first, knows you are afraid of it. Once you loose your apprehension, and take command, the horse (or TD plane) does everything right and makes you look brilliant (most of the time).
It’s a all about managing inertia and air flow over the aircraft. Think ahead of your little charger and rein in her exuberance with a firm grasp. She may try to throw you but with perseverance and determination you can tame her curious habits. A feeling of satisfaction gained few other places and once the seat of pants feel for stick, rudder, throttle is attained she will serve with a gentle reliability. Happy flying gentlemen and endeavor to perceiver.
tremendous edited videos and relaxed TV like presenting / overdubs. Flew at Earls Colne myself (Robin HR200 with Digby but unfortunately couldn't finish) and gliding down the road at Wormingford
Great tail dragger lesson/tutorial! I did not know about pushing the stick after a wheeler landing. Glad I learned several new tips, today. Also amazed to see the small propeller and leaving the window/door open during flight has no ill effect. Subbed!
Brilliant!!! Back to basics (well almost).....but if you had only ever learnt to fly a tail dragger you would find flying a conventional plane difficult at 1st until you master it so it's all relative. Nice flying.
Thank you for your videos, which delight with excellent video and audio quality from the very first moment and then show exactly what one hopes for. The essentials are explained precisely, and one is spared the usual RUclips idle. You can't do better than that!
Excellent! Well done. (I know this is an older film now but just catching up with your work).That looks a lot of fun and hard work! My son has just started his training at Redhill.....might treat myself to trip in a cub there one day!
Great job Jon. Having shifted some of my flying to tail-wheel after 1000's of nose-wheel flying hours, you are 100% correct. You have started to learn once again. All great to do as we get younger!!
Hi Flying Reporter, a brilliant video of you learning to fly the Piper Cub, well done! I am extremely interested in your tailwheel journey and I’m looking forward to seeing more content! Loads of detail in your videos and superbly filmed, a brilliant learning tool for any aspiring taildragger pilot!
I only ever had a conversion flight on a Piper Cub ( in yellow) out of Swanton Morley back in 1999 and absolutely loved it. It looks like you are having fun as well. I loved the calmly said ( by the instructor) "left a bit...mind the runway lights", made me smile.
Oh Jon I tell you mate that video brought it all back to me, Oh my goodness it did, I loved every minute of every second of every hour I spent up at Headcourne in the Piper Cub, the BEST flying ever, ever, ever, a mans airplane, just so awesome, and believe it or not I thought just like you that this was going to be impossible to fly but after just 40 mins I was landing the machine with no instruction at all fantastic now THAT'S FLYING!!!
I own a 1946 J3 Cub. For someone with no previous tailwheel experience I'd say you did exceptional!!! Don't feel bad about the heel brakes. The pedal appeared to be a little more outboard then usual. Mine I have to want to get on them to use them. Takes a little time to get used to but now I prefer heel brakes over toe. Looking forward to more tailwheel videos. Good luck! You're doing great!!!
Now that is real flying in a classic aeroplane,I found myself pressing the rudder pedals with you and enjoying the experience of flying a tail dragger,you have a great instructor there in one fun machine,thank you for the experience.
You should feel very proud and pleased Jon . I thought you did really well , and you are right , it is like learning to fly again . Looking forward to the next instalment . My best wishes .
Hi Jon, Glad to see you doing the tail wheel conversion - I did mine in a Super Cub at Clacton, but the Instructor sat in the back (not the front like your Chap). Also the Super Cub has massive flaps. As your Instructor said - all about using your feet at all times and also nailing speed is all important. Thought you did very well - Looking forward to you flying the Harvard. Great stuff. Paul
Thanks Paul. I cannot remember the reason for the back seat arrangement here. There was logic. I'm not sure that you can solo it from the front. Maybe wrong. Can't remember.
Fantastic Jon - definitely inspiring me to get some tail dragger experience. What a lovely and historic aircraft to convert into, I can see why Ellie Carter loves flying the type so much!
Nice one Jon. Always good to learn.Flight chops has some good pointers about this if you ever need. Going to come on board as a patreon tomorrow to support the channel so best of luck with it. I can now also confirm that i am starting a AFISO course next week at Staverton.
Tremendous video love that those planes are still in use. Look forward to the next video, thank you for keeping our sprits up in these uncertain times. Stay Safe 👍👏
Thank you for covering this, hoping to try a tail-dragger at some point as well. Wondering if you covered somewhere what you use to record both ways radio comms, I have the same headset as you.
Great, informative video. I'm just doing a t/w conversion at Andrewsfield. Not easy, but ~500hrs in gliders helps with the rudder stuff! Nigel is great - flew with him in a Chippie.
hey you did great! you will develop more sense of what to do with the controls as you gain experience...its hard to teach you need to do it....cheero !!
Thanks Jon, I thoroughly enjoyed that! I did actually have a go in a tail-dragger many years ago, now I know why the P1 didn't let me taxi! Bit of flying trivia, it was a very rare beast as it was a converted C152 from Stapleford ( G-OPAM from memory). looking forward to next instalment and good luck! Best regards to Nigel as well for being a good sport. Stu
Hi Jon, it is nice to see somebody else having a similar experience getting into a tailwheel (I'm four hours in, but lockdown 2.0 stopped me finishing) I'm learning in a C120, which like most Cessna's has toe brakes, they just feel far more intuitive than the heel brakes. I did a few circuits in a PA-12 cruiser (similar to the Cub) and I had real problems getting my heels on the brakes, at 186cm tall my legs are somewhat long and I just couldn't get comfortable. I have more problems with the take offs than the landings now but I'll get there, when we get out of this lockdown that is. Then again I think having spent 3 & 1/2 years and just short of 97 hours behind the controls of a T67M I have been somewhat spoiled, going from a 1980's aircraft to a 1940's aircraft is requiring a bit of adjustment. Mel
Great video. I almost imagined being a student pilot in the early years of WWII learning to fly over the very typical English countryside. I also thought that learning and practising forced landings would be a dream with all of those potential runways everywhere.
@@TheFlyingReporter Rules of instructing: Rule 1. Bloggs is always trying to kill you. Rule 2. The more experience Boggs has, the more devious will be his attempts to kill you.
Very slick as usual Jon. Looks like you took that very well I’d say. I know how you feel about going back to square 1 when I started flying the helicopter. 👍
You're having way too much fun in that plane. Excellent! 😍 I found takeoffs in a Citabria to be uneventful. In the air, a 152 with ADHD. Landings (on pavement), just short of psychotic...
Very nice video Jon. You had a good number of cameras on the go which captured it all well. I am sure you will master it all very quickly. Was the Jodel the first taildragger you had flown in?
Jon, I apologise I had a lttle giggle on the first take off! However, you wiped the grin off my face with everything else!!!! You improved so much and it aseems you had so much fun, it won't be long before your'e a proper taildragger. Do you have a particular aircraft to fly once you have the rating?
Glad I raised a smile. You have to have fun doing these things, else, what is the point. I really ought to find something I can fly periodically to keep in practise really.
The flying is the same it is just the take off and landing that is different. I struggled the other way around over pulling the elevator on a nose wheel aircraft almost putting the tail on the ground.
Not at all Robert. Until later in training when we were putting in hard crossed controls to forward slip the aeroplane in. I was shunted towards the open door on the cushion which is not fixed the airframe!
You get used to the three-point attitude the whole time you're taxiing, and just gradually transition to that attitude as you reduce power. Relax, gentle touch on the controls and let the lovely little Cub do its work for you. You may not think so now, but you fly a Pitts exactly the same way. If it's hard then you're doing it wrong. We trained a couple of ladies in a taildragger from ab-initio to PPL, and they progressed as quickly as any other student pilots did in Cessnas. If you need to fly very differently in a taildragger than you do with a nosewheel aeroplane then you would be well advised to review your overall technique. I say that not be a smart-arse, but to say that to fly well is easy work, and not difficult to master.
I have thousands of hours in tailwheel towing gliders. I stopped counting once the number of landings exceeded 10,000. Your instructor was excellent, really put things in simple terms. You did well.
nice instruction, he let you just fly since he knew you were a pilot. that's the type of instruction that's the best...putting some mild pressure on the student to do the right thing and to learn and not be spoon-fed like a baby. Excellent.
Getting a chance to learn how to fly again is a gift :) The taildragger will make you a better pilot! Been flying taildraggers for 40 years absolutely loving it! Thanks for the vid!
Thanks for watching, and taking the time to comment. I hope it adds to the experience toolbox.
Excellent video and outstanding airplane. What a beauty. A tail dragger is a mental battle between you and the plane, like riding a horse that at first, knows you are afraid of it. Once you loose your apprehension, and take command, the horse (or TD plane) does everything right and makes you look brilliant (most of the time).
What a lovely way of describing it!
It’s a all about managing inertia and air flow over the aircraft.
Think ahead of your little charger and rein in her exuberance with a firm grasp.
She may try to throw you but with perseverance and determination you can tame her curious habits.
A feeling of satisfaction gained few other places and once the seat of pants feel for stick, rudder, throttle is attained she will serve with a gentle reliability.
Happy flying gentlemen and endeavor to perceiver.
Very enjoyable.
6:34 you're like, "THANK GOD" . . . whew - breathing and heart rate begin to return to normal
Thanks for posting this. A man of Courage. : )
I think the man of courage is the instructor!!!!
Very well done,not easy is it.Will come with plenty of practice.Very good instructor.Brilliant last landing.
tremendous edited videos and relaxed TV like presenting / overdubs. Flew at Earls Colne myself (Robin HR200 with Digby but unfortunately couldn't finish) and gliding down the road at Wormingford
Great tail dragger lesson/tutorial! I did not know about pushing the stick after a wheeler landing. Glad I learned several new tips, today. Also amazed to see the small propeller and leaving the window/door open during flight has no ill effect. Subbed!
Thanks for joining the community!
Brilliant!!! Back to basics (well almost).....but if you had only ever learnt to fly a tail dragger you would find flying a conventional plane difficult at 1st until you master it so it's all relative. Nice flying.
As a tailwheel instructor over here in Canada, I really enjoyed this video! You did quite well, indeed!
Well done!
Thank you David. Very kind of you to say so.
Where are you, I'm looking for an instructor here on Vancouver island.
The production value of this piece is outstanding!
Thanks! That's what I'm aiming for here.
I like the pack of Lucky Strike on the glareshield for the full US soldier effect.
A nice prop!
Thank you for your videos, which delight with excellent video and audio quality from the very first moment and then show exactly what one hopes for. The essentials are explained precisely, and one is spared the usual RUclips idle. You can't do better than that!
Thank you for your kind comment.
The best flying you can do. Did my tailwheel conversion at Old Sarum (Super Cub) in the 90s. You will not regret it.
I need to find a tailwheel I can fly periodically.
Excellent! Well done. (I know this is an older film now but just catching up with your work).That looks a lot of fun and hard work! My son has just started his training at Redhill.....might treat myself to trip in a cub there one day!
Great job Jon. Having shifted some of my flying to tail-wheel after 1000's of nose-wheel flying hours, you are 100% correct. You have started to learn once again. All great to do as we get younger!!
Thanks Ian. Younger....hmmm.
Hi Flying Reporter, a brilliant video of you learning to fly the Piper Cub, well done! I am extremely interested in your tailwheel journey and I’m looking forward to seeing more content! Loads of detail in your videos and superbly filmed, a brilliant learning tool for any aspiring taildragger pilot!
Thank you Adam.
She’s a harsh mistress but learn her little quirks and moods and by golly you can fly anything.
I only ever had a conversion flight on a Piper Cub ( in yellow) out of Swanton Morley back in 1999 and absolutely loved it. It looks like you are having fun as well. I loved the calmly said ( by the instructor) "left a bit...mind the runway lights", made me smile.
I don't know how instructor Nigel manages to stay so calm.
Very nice video Sir!! For having only 500 hrs, you did very well in that beautiful L-4. Looking forward to more of your videos my friend. Bravo!
Thanks!
Oh Jon I tell you mate that video brought it all back to me, Oh my goodness it did, I loved every minute of every second of every hour I spent up at Headcourne in the Piper Cub, the BEST flying ever, ever, ever, a mans airplane, just so awesome, and believe it or not I thought just like you that this was going to be impossible to fly but after just 40 mins I was landing the machine with no instruction at all fantastic now THAT'S FLYING!!!
Glad it brought it back David. It's satisfying when it comes together.
I own a 1946 J3 Cub. For someone with no previous tailwheel experience I'd say you did exceptional!!! Don't feel bad about the heel brakes. The pedal appeared to be a little more outboard then usual. Mine I have to want to get on them to use them. Takes a little time to get used to but now I prefer heel brakes over toe. Looking forward to more tailwheel videos. Good luck! You're doing great!!!
Ah thanks John. The next episode is fun too...coming soon!
Awesome, Jon! That looked really tricky at first and some of it is so counter-intuitive to a nose wheel pilot. Great job!
Thanks Paul.
Now that is real flying in a classic aeroplane,I found myself pressing the rudder pedals with you and enjoying the experience of flying a tail dragger,you have a great instructor there in one fun machine,thank you for the experience.
Thanks for watching angel.
Fantastic video this what a brilliant instructor he is one of the best I've ever seen, I know where I'll be going next summer 👍.
You should feel very proud and pleased Jon . I thought you did really well , and you are right , it is like learning to fly again . Looking forward to the next instalment . My best wishes .
Thank you David.
Hi Jon, Glad to see you doing the tail wheel conversion - I did mine in a Super Cub at Clacton, but the Instructor sat in the back (not the front like your Chap). Also the Super Cub has massive flaps. As your Instructor said - all about using your feet at all times and also nailing speed is all important. Thought you did very well - Looking forward to you flying the Harvard. Great stuff. Paul
Thanks Paul. I cannot remember the reason for the back seat arrangement here. There was logic. I'm not sure that you can solo it from the front. Maybe wrong. Can't remember.
@@TheFlyingReporter No probs, the Super Cub is a different beast - might be a balance issue. Looking forward to the next video.
Good to see first principles, you don't get to see that with the Utah/Idaho boys!
That was really good, well done. Great instructor too.
Fantastic Jon - definitely inspiring me to get some tail dragger experience. What a lovely and historic aircraft to convert into, I can see why Ellie Carter loves flying the type so much!
It's good fun, that's for sure.
This was exciting John, look forward to part two :)
Thank you!
Very good👍👍👍
Nice one Jon.
Always good to learn.Flight chops has some good pointers about this if you ever need.
Going to come on board as a patreon tomorrow to support the channel so best of luck with it.
I can now also confirm that i am starting a AFISO course next week at Staverton.
Thanks Sean. And great news about the training.
Tremendous video love that those planes are still in use. Look forward to the next video, thank you for keeping our sprits up in these uncertain times. Stay Safe 👍👏
Thanks Stewart.
2nd and 3rd landings were bang on. Awesome
I've surprised myself!
Thank you for covering this, hoping to try a tail-dragger at some point as well. Wondering if you covered somewhere what you use to record both ways radio comms, I have the same headset as you.
Good job! Lots to think about but a real achievement.
Thanks Philip.
Great video. I learned flying in gliders and then taildraggers. For me it was strange to suddenly have a nosewheel :D
Great, informative video. I'm just doing a t/w conversion at Andrewsfield. Not easy, but ~500hrs in gliders helps with the rudder stuff! Nigel is great - flew with him in a Chippie.
Excellent Instructor student did very good. Takes a lot of training.
hey you did great! you will develop more sense of what to do with the controls as you gain experience...its hard to teach you need to do it....cheero !!
Thanks Jon, I thoroughly enjoyed that! I did actually have a go in a tail-dragger many years ago, now I know why the P1 didn't let me taxi! Bit of flying trivia, it was a very rare beast as it was a converted C152 from Stapleford ( G-OPAM from memory). looking forward to next instalment and good luck! Best regards to Nigel as well for being a good sport. Stu
Thanks Stuart - Yes, Nigel is definitely a good sport!
Doin three points your first time out is an accomplishment! Good job.
Brill! Nothing like a new challenge to keep you fresh!
Couldn't agree me Steve.
Hi Jon,
it is nice to see somebody else having a similar experience getting into a tailwheel (I'm four hours in, but lockdown 2.0 stopped me finishing) I'm learning in a C120, which like most Cessna's has toe brakes, they just feel far more intuitive than the heel brakes. I did a few circuits in a PA-12 cruiser (similar to the Cub) and I had real problems getting my heels on the brakes, at 186cm tall my legs are somewhat long and I just couldn't get comfortable.
I have more problems with the take offs than the landings now but I'll get there, when we get out of this lockdown that is. Then again I think having spent 3 & 1/2 years and just short of 97 hours behind the controls of a T67M I have been somewhat spoiled, going from a 1980's aircraft to a 1940's aircraft is requiring a bit of adjustment.
Mel
Pleased to hear you're trying the conversion too. 6'1". Now that would be tricky in the PA-12 I imagine.
Great video. I almost imagined being a student pilot in the early years of WWII learning to fly over the very typical English countryside. I also thought that learning and practising forced landings would be a dream with all of those potential runways everywhere.
Thanks for taking the time to watch the video and send me your comment. All the best.
John, a really good episode and if there is anyone more honest than you on RUclips I have yet to see him/her.
Thanks Dave.
Wonderful, really looking forward to the rest of this series. Looked great flying with the door open!
The breeze was refreshing on this hot summer's day.
Well done!! And what a brilliant instructor! 👍
Totally agree. Very calm and not phased by me trying to kill us both.
@@TheFlyingReporter Rules of instructing: Rule 1. Bloggs is always trying to kill you. Rule 2. The more experience Boggs has, the more devious will be his attempts to kill you.
Nice job Gents!
Great to watch Jon. Good luck moving forward.. looks like you're gonna have this licked!! 👌👍
Thanks Kevin.
Another fantastic piece Jon, i keep toying with tail wheel....... just haven’t got there yet :)
Worth a try for sure Marvin. Apparently it sharpens up your skills all round.
Whoever wins the Harvard flight have fun. I flew one from Shoreham many years ago it was amazing. It’s a huge aircraft!!!!!
Well done,Jon. Looked great fun!!
Was a great day out that!
Ha ha the "oh my god" landing. Mine is yelling "sorry, sorry, sorry" during the round out
Well done Jon.
Thank you Colin.
Very slick as usual Jon. Looks like you took that very well I’d say. I know how you feel about going back to square 1 when I started flying the helicopter. 👍
Thanks Rory. At least I went from one with wings, to another one with wings. You were totally mixing it up!
@@TheFlyingReporter ha ha - that’s true, but I do like to make things hard for myself!
Great video enjoyed this one. Can’t wait to get back into the sky again.
Thanks for that, Jon! Makes me want to try tail-wheel at some point.
You really should.
+1 do it!
Brilliant video Jon thanks!
Thanks Richard.
Loved it. Keeping us all flying. Thanks
Great video Jon, proper flying!!
Good fun eh!
Great video, as always. Tail-dragger is definitely on the bucket-list 😁🤙
If you fancy a laugh!!
Learn to taxi downwind with forward elevator stick to the right if wind is from the left,etc
Never ever heard of the place seems amazing
Nicely done!
Thanks Paul.
You're having way too much fun in that plane. Excellent! 😍
I found takeoffs in a Citabria to be uneventful. In the air, a 152 with ADHD. Landings (on pavement), just short of psychotic...
What an excellent description.
Always thought a two-wheeler landing was the standard for a tail dragger.
Always learning 😊
Great video again Sir.
There you go Adam. My job is done!
Great video !!!!
Is that picture Miss Norah ?
Well done. Honestly, you'll never want to go back to nosewheel :-)
Hmm. Not sure about that yet! Keeps me on my toes though.
@@TheFlyingReporter you'll get there. That "I used to think I can land" feeling is perfectly normally :-)
Is this a 65hp like the original or has it been upped to 85 o 90? Thanks
Yes, 65Hp
Can't believe how cheap they were, for inflation it'd make it about £2500 today, I wish you could get one for that! Good video Jon!
Takes off like a boys kite LOL. Tailwheel flying is really fun Jon, Hope I win the Harvard experience!! :)
Nice work!
Thank you.
Great video John! As a nose landing gear only flyer, I always wanted to fly a taildragger but I am scared about the dreadful ground loop.
Thanks. It can bite you.
I'm an American with an Aeronca L3C. Not familiar with the "C's and P's" checks. Can someone explain?
Hello Bob. Ts & Ps....temperatures, and pressures...
I have only flown tricycle gear aircraft, but it seems to me that a “Wheel Landing” would be a lot easier for a transitioning pilot to master.
Flying cub’s is jolly good fun!
I certainly enjoyed the experience!
You know what Jon? You really pushed me to look at the Anglian war birds website ;-)
;)
Very nice video Jon. You had a good number of cameras on the go which captured it all well. I am sure you will master it all very quickly. Was the Jodel the first taildragger you had flown in?
Thanks Tim. I can't remember. I did have a flight in a cub at some point, but I don't know which came first!
nice one.
A real aeroplane! Well done 👍🏼
Can't argue..a fun war-bird. Thanks.
Is that Elmsett airfield ? where Hobbyking have a warehouse ?
Earls Colne.
Would a taller person fit in that cub? I am 6’2” and would love to go for a flight in it.
I'm not sure Jeff. It wasn't comfortable for me at 5'10" but then it's my width not my height that wasn't helping.
@@TheFlyingReporter I’m 6’1 1/2 and I fit in the back (out of Kemble) OK years ago, tho I was slimmer then and entry/exit was never graceful! TonyS
Jon, I apologise I had a lttle giggle on the first take off! However, you wiped the grin off my face with everything else!!!! You improved so much and it aseems you had so much fun, it won't be long before your'e a proper taildragger. Do you have a particular aircraft to fly once you have the rating?
Glad I raised a smile. You have to have fun doing these things, else, what is the point. I really ought to find something I can fly periodically to keep in practise really.
One kind of Aeoplane that I never got to operate was an Tail wheel .
The flying is the same it is just the take off and landing that is different. I struggled the other way around over pulling the elevator on a nose wheel aircraft almost putting the tail on the ground.
I'm told that's quite hard to do, so well done!
Nice to see you in a Cub, they're fun aren't they? 😁
Amazing fun Claire.
@@TheFlyingReporter You just need to remember to budget more time to flying - It took me 5 hours to go up to Beverley and back via Elmsett 😂
Why are you setting qfe instead of qhn? :)
It's a british thing - quite often pilots in Britain will remain on QFE when in the circuit.
Soft pack of Luckies on the glare shield like a baller, he's been watching too much Mad Men!
That was fun. Did you feel any nerves about having the door open and that extra ventilation?
Not at all Robert. Until later in training when we were putting in hard crossed controls to forward slip the aeroplane in. I was shunted towards the open door on the cushion which is not fixed the airframe!
It was called a "conventional gear" it is day. At least in the US, where - no doubt- it was invented.
You did great :)
Thank you.
Learnt a lot, so you've been flying around the flat lands near me...
A little bit, yes!
Just like the Film Battle of The Bulge
You get used to the three-point attitude the whole time you're taxiing, and just gradually transition to that attitude as you reduce power. Relax, gentle touch on the controls and let the lovely little Cub do its work for you. You may not think so now, but you fly a Pitts exactly the same way. If it's hard then you're doing it wrong. We trained a couple of ladies in a taildragger from ab-initio to PPL, and they progressed as quickly as any other student pilots did in Cessnas. If you need to fly very differently in a taildragger than you do with a nosewheel aeroplane then you would be well advised to review your overall technique. I say that not be a smart-arse, but to say that to fly well is easy work, and not difficult to master.
A hundred and thirty pounds????WOW!!!🐦
Cs & Ps ?
Ts and Ps. Temperatures and pressures.