Taildragger?

Buddy of mine has a Cessna 140 taildragger (1950) and talked me into some ground operations with his plane. "Taildragger?" So, after some thought I decided to give it a try at a non toweresd airport and taxied around for an hour. I learned how to taxi with my feet upwind, downwind, and crosswind. On my first back taxi on 17, I gained the nerve to increase my speed and before I knew it, the plane was fish tailing and I ended up doing a ground loop. Scared me, but at least the main wheels never left the ground.



After my blood pressure regained its normal rating, I taxied over the grass strip and practiced there. Gained speed, slowed down, did sharp turns, stopping, etc to build my confidene up.

After an hour in the 1950 Cessna 140 taildragger, I thought it was a good first lessen. What did I gain from this? I learned to use my feet (rudder) better with the yoke better in a 10 mph breeze.

When I returned to the hanger, my buddy asked if I got the tail up off the ground. "No way! Not yet." After another hour or so, by myself, I think I can but I wouldn't take off without an instructor. Taildragger instructors are hard to come by these days, it seems that all pilots just want to do tricycle planes. But, trust me! Learning how to taxi, fly, and land a taildragger will only make you a better pilot.