SonexBuilders.net

Hi All,

Getting close to performing first flight of my Onex TD fairly soon. I have a fair amount of taildragger time in other EAB types (Thorp T18, Glasair, Radial Rocket), but no Sonex/Onex time.

What are your typical techniques and advice regarding takeoff/landing? Fly it off 3-point? Wheel it on for landing or? With landing gear mods I installed (5.00 x 5 tires and 6” tailwheel) deck angle on the ground is about 7 degrees. I have installed toe brakes and a castering tailwheel.

Thanks for any input!

Jeff Ackland

I had a similar scenario but no homebuilt time. Lots of other tailwheel time.

I'd start with minimal to no crosswind. The Waiex at least is not the low speed rudder power champion. With minimal crosswind, I prefer to pick up the tail for takeoff. For us, the solid link tailwheel is a crucial part of our crosswind capability and if we had a castering wheel we would have a lot less than 300 hours.

It took me a while to get good/comfortable doing the 3-point takeoff. The visibility is not great and you need to use the Force to keep aligned. I never liked the 3 point takeoff in cubs, C140s, etc either so that may be a personal bias. But once you pick it up on the mains the visibility is really good.

The airplane wheel lands great, but again be mindful of your crosswind capability. For any crosswinds over 5kts or so we do a 3 point takeoff and a full stall/tailwheel first landing.

For a crosswind takeoff, the stick is full back to nail the wheel down until the mains come off. I've been relaxed on the back pressure and run out of pedal, woke up and got the stick back and got it back.

We have more crosswind takeoff capability with it from the left as it reduces the amount of left pedal you need for torque/P factor. Landing we have more capability with a crosswind from the right.

Back to the original question, for the first flight in benign conditions I don't think it matters. I would pick your favorite or what seems right to you. Good luck!

Thanks Bryan!

Jeff

I bow to Bryans much greater experince.

For what it's worth;

I had nil tailwheel experince/training, so I went out and got my GA tailwheel endorsement, in a Citabria.

Surprise surprise! I found my Legacy/912ULS to be easier (so far 109 hrs) than the Citabria. I still don't have a lot of X wind time and the little I have was not so demanding.

The Rotax requires a fair bit of "right boot" in TO/Climb out - a left X wind may add an interesting challenge.

My X landing technique is similar to Bryan - May only use first stage of flap (so far have not done a flapless landing). Keep power/speed up right down to the flair. Cut power and try for a slightly tail first or solid 3 pointer, stick all the way back.

My Legacy has a castering tailwheel - took a bit of fiddling to get it setup - good now. May be a liability in a strong X wind - we will see.

So far I have found the Legacy to be less affected by X wind, than my last aircraft an ATEX Zephyr - longer wings, lighter aircraft???

My normal takeoff and landing is a compromise between techniques. I don't like 3 point takeoffs because there's always a point where you're just skittering around and not flying. You can't really rotate because the tailwheel is on the ground, so you just have to let it do that until you get fast enough to fly. I typically start with full aft elevator, then fairly quickly move the stick a little forward. I don't try to lift the tail early, but I want enough forward stick to have it lift off before I get into that unsettled condition. You can then rotate when ready and fly off.

For landing, I've never liked traditional wheel landings, but that might be because I've had planes with very little prop clearance. The 60" prop on the 912 will keep me from ever intentionally doing a full wheel landing. Since the ground attitude doesn't allow full stall 3-pt landings, I typically do what I call a tail low wheel landing, which is just something in between. If you have the stock Onex landing gear, keep in mind that it's not very robust.

The plane flies pretty honestly, but you'll notice that it's pretty tail happy. It could probably use a bit more vertical stabilizer.

I agree with skippydiesel that it's probably the most forgiving taildragger to fly.

We only have two notches of flaps. I've landed with 0, 1, and 2. Use whatever you need for drag.

One thing I figured out after 50 hours is that a notch of flaps is helpful to reduce the ground roll a lot. The airplane does not have much deck angle on the ground.

Thanks for all the good info!

Jeff