2010 12 taxiing without incident

Vintage Instructor THE

BY Steve Krog, CFI

Taxiing without incident

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everal days ago I watched an individual taxi away from the hangar, headed for the runway. The pilot, who was quite experienced, was excited about the flight—it was the first time in many years that his eldest daughter was going for a ride with him. The daughter, too, was excited about making the flight (good father/daughter bonding time). The day was bright and sunny with a surface wind of about 10-12 mph, gusting to about 15 mph. These winds were nothing unusual to the pilot, as I had flown with him for several hours previously, and we had flown in winds considerably stronger.

As they began taxiing away from the hangar I shouted to them: “The toughest part of the entire flight will be getting the airplane to the runway.” The pilot nodded and smiled.

Taxiing required traveling about 150 yards with a direct crosswind before turning downwind onto the hard-surface taxiway. The controls were positioned properly, slight power was added, and they began the trip to the runway. At the point where a 90-degree turn downwind was required, the pilot stopped and cleared the taxiway for any other traffic. Power was then applied along with full right rudder, but the airplane didn’t want to turn. The direct crosswind was hitting the left side of the airplane broadside, preventing the turn. A touch of brake was applied and a bit more power added. Still nothing. And still more power was added, along with more right brake but no response.

Then the pilot made the cardinal sin of taxiing with a brisk wind. He pushed the stick forward!

Instantly the tail came up and the distinctive ting, ting, ting of prop tips glancing off the taxiway was heard! By the time I had walked to the taxiway, he had shut down the engine and had exited the airplane. He

24 DECEMBER 2010

stated simply, “I feel terrible about this, and I know exactly what I did wrong.”

Together we moved the airplane back to the hangar and sat down for a cup of coffee. I could see that he was quite upset with himself, and I didn’t want him leaving the airport without talking about the incident (and lowering his blood pressure). Before he departed I suggested he return the next day, and I would make an airplane available for him to fly. He needed to get back in the saddle before convincing himself he should no longer fly.

After the individual left the airport I began thinking of all the taxi incidents I had observed at the airport.

I recall watching a Stearman go up on its nose (after suggesting to the owner/pilot that it wouldn’t be wise to fly it until he fixed the sticky brakes), a Citabria and a Waco attempting to taxi through the wooden runway markers, numerous airplanes taking out runway lights, and a Cub with Cleveland hydraulic brakes go on its nose three times. There are a number of other instances, but these are the most vivid.

What, if any, was the common denominator in each of these mishaps? Wind? Unfamiliarity with the airport? Pilot inattentiveness? Pilot unfamiliarity with the aircraft systems? After giving thought to each situation, I arrived at the conclusion: It was usually a combination of all the above.

Very little space and explanation is given to proper taxi techniques in any of the flight-training handbooks commonly used today. A lot of that is due to the use of tricycle airplanes, I’m sure. However, there are still thousands of tailwheel airplanes being flown and new tailwheel airplanes, thanks to the light-sport aircraft movement, being added to the general-aviation fleet every day. It certainly appears this is a gross oversight by publishers of today’s training manuals. This

oversight also carries over to many of the younger instructors providing tailwheel training today.

I’ve collected flight-training manuals, current and historical, for years, and I had to go all the way back to a manual published by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in 1943 before I could find more than a paragraph devoted to ground handling of a tailwheel airplane. The ability to taxi an airplane successfully is a key part to any successful flight, but little time and effort is devoted to proper taxi methods. In the past 12 months I’ve had the pleasure of flying with more than 100 individuals in the pursuit of flight training, tailwheel checkouts, and biennial flight reviews. I can attest to the fact that most individuals are very lax when taxiing! As a result, I’ve developed a list of things that every pilot should practice whenever attempting flight, but which are especially important when flying a tailwheel airplane.

Some of the key points made include: When taxiing, look for other airplanes and ground obstructions. Your visibility is extremely limited when on the ground. While taxiing, make S-turns so that you can see what is directly ahead of your airplane. Be careful that the blast of air from your propeller (prop blast) doesn’t blow dust on spectators or endanger other airplanes on the ground.

the propeller. Ailerons are ineffective because the prop blast does not reach them.

If your airplane has a steerable tail wheel, the rudder control will be rather stiff while the plane is on the ground. More pressure on, but less movement of, the rudder pedals will be used in taxiing than if directional control is dependent on the rudder alone.

In taxiing, the stick is used to keep the tail on the ground. When taxiing into the wind (upwind), keep the stick back of neutral, and when taxiing with the wind (downwind), keep the stick forward of neutral. When taxiing into the wind, the elevators should be raised by holding the stick back, so that a sudden gust of wind will only serve to hold the tail on the ground. When taxiing with the wind, the elevators should be lowered by holding the stick forward, so that a sudden gust of wind from behind the airplane will force the tail down.

Use the throttle gently. In taxiing, the engine should be kept running only fast enough to keep the plane moving slowly, about as fast as you could walk across the ground. When the plane is at rest, it is necessary to increase the engine rpm to start the plane moving, but once it is rolling the engine rpm should be reduced. Rest your hand on the throttle at all times.

Bill Kershner/The Flight Instructor’s Manual

If the plane has brakes, they are used to control the plane when it is moving slowly on the ground. To stop, both right and left brakes are applied simultaneously.

To turn right, the right brake is used. To turn left, the left brake is used.

The ability to taxi safely is a learned experience.

The rudder is the most important control when taxiing. On the ground, most of the pressure on the controls is exerted by the stream of air from

When taxiing with a quartering head wind or tail wind, the ailerons become a necessity for proper ground handling, especially on a high-wing plane. When dealing with a quartering head wind, move the stick or control wheel so that the upwind aileron is in the up position, preventing the wing from generating enough lift to raise the airplane off the ground should a wind gust be encountered. When taxiing with a quartering tail wind, turn the stick or control wheel away from the wind; the aileron on the windward side of the airplane is now in the down position, which helps prevent the wing from lifting should a wind gust occur. Using the wing leading edge as your primary reference point, when the surface wind is from a direction that reaches the wing from the front, “climb into the wind.” When the wind strikes the wing from behind the wing leading edge reference point, “dive away from the wind.”

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What, if any, was the common denominator in each of these mishaps?

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Bill Kershner/The Flight Instructor’s Manual

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Position the stick back and elevator up when taxiing into the wind. Move the stick forward with the elevator down when taxiing with the wind.

U.S. Sport Aviation Expo Sebring Regional Airport (SEF), Sebring, Florida January 20-23, 2011 www.Sport-Aviation-Expo.com Sun ’n Fun Fly-In Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL), Lakeland, Florida March 29-April 3, 2011 www.Sun-N-Fun.org AERO Friedrichshafen Messe Friedrichshafen, Friedrichshafen, Germany April 13-16, 2011 www.AERO-Friedrichshafen.com/html/ en

Bill Kershner/The Flight Instructor’s Manual

Virginia Regional Festival of Flight Suffolk Executive Airport (SFQ), Suffolk, Virginia April 30-May 1, 2011 www.VirginiaFlyIn.org

A quartering wind requires up aileron when taxiing into the wind and down aileron when taxiing downwind.

Following these simple rules explicitly will help prevent an incident like the one mentioned earlier. A little common sense will prevent a very costly repair!

The next day my pilot friend did return and flew for an hour or more, including a half-dozen landings. When he taxied back to the hangar, the expressive grin he was wearing was priceless. Confidence restored, he was again flying, and I’ll bet for the remainder of his flying career, he’ll never again have a problem taxiing correctly in a tailwheel airplane.

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Golden West Regional Fly-In and Air Show Yuba County Airport (MYV), Marysville, California June 10-12, 2011 www.GoldenWestFlyIn.org Arlington Fly-In Arlington Municipal Airport (AWO), Arlington, Washington July 6-10, 2011 www.ArlingtonFlyIn.org EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh, Wisconsin July 25-31, 2011 www.AirVenture.org Colorado Sport International Air Show and Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-In Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC), Denver, Colorado August 27-28, 2011 www.COSportAviation.org