Why Tailwheel Airplanes are Better 

Mark Boyd, 10/18/02


  So they groundloop.  OK that's bad.  Hard to
groundloop a 152.  

  BUT, there have been 19 Champ accidents in
California in the NTSB records for the past 
30 years, and none have been fatal.

  Why so few?  Why so minor?  Because most
were so cheap to repair they weren't accidents,
and all were so slow nobody got killed.

  So the great things about a tailwheel airplane 
flown day VFR (like a Champ):

  cheap to buy
  cheap to insure
  cheap to maintain
  cheap sales tax
  cheap county tax
  two fit in one hangar
  uses little gas
  no flaps
  no electricity
  no nosewheel shimmy
  no vacuum system 
  gas gauge is a cork with a wire
  no mixture
  no starter
  no starter switch
  no metal corrosion
  only four cylinders
  wood prop is cheap
  no spinner
  no door locks
  great visibility out the front
  flies real slow and low

  So what's the downside?  Speed and groundloops.  If
you can avoid the groundloops (through training and
experience), it's just speed.  The dang thing is 
very slow.  And because it's so slow, even though
you can fly two hours before getting gas, that may
only be 100-150 NM.  So now it's even slower.

  So the plane is a turtle.  Can you handle that?
I can.  Because it has the wonderful upside, it is
stone cold simple.  Lots of things can't break because
they just aren't there.

  What about night and IFR?  Well, if you REALLY want 
to fly then, you can put all that crap in the plane.
But keep in mind you can fly 1 mile clear of clouds
under day VFR, and night is really End Evening Civil
Twilight and Begin Morning Civil Twilight (which is 
about a half before sunrise and a half hour after suset).

  So if you fly low and land or takeoff when it isn't
total darkness, you're ok.
  
  The final reason for flying a Champ is that you 
get to fly a lot, and it's cheap!