Tailwheel to tricycle

[Gordon]

Tailwheel Trauma.........?

The gear alignment may be the culprit but maybe not........it may be the pilot. If you could find an experienced Sonex tailwheel pilot to fly YOUR airplane around the pattern and he should be able to say.....yes it is the airplane......or no....it is the pilot. You might want to do that first before anything else.

Checking the alignment of YOUR Sonex will take most of a day until you pull wheels/brakes and do the checks. At that point you may also want to install new tires and grease the wheel bearings and maybe install new brake pads while everything is apart......thus an all day affair.

The very last thing I would be doing is changing the airplane to a tri-gear. Pulling the engine and changing the mount and re-installing the engine is a HUGE job. You may find unexpected discrepancies that need to be resolved on the "original installation" (did you build it or did someone else built this airplane?). Count on the airplane being "out of service" for a number of months. Not sure if you want to "go down that rabbit hole"?
Another solution that may be best is to sell the airplane and buy a tri-gear Sonex. Understand that this conversion of YOUR airplane is going to be very expensive and time consuming. Selling yours and buying a trigear would likely be the cheapest and quickest answer to your problem.

I learned to fly back in the 60's on taildraggers when I was a teenager and I find it very easy and natural, HOWEVER you can never let down your guard. If you are a bit slow to react and then overreact to the tail swinging around you are going to be on the verge of a ground loop. It is all about sensing the problem a split second early and correcting with finesse. Some pilots are NEVER able to get comfortable with the taildragger configuration and that's fine....just be smart enough to realize your limitations BEFORE you wreck your airplane. Right now you still have a saleable airplane, after you ground loop it the value goes way down......just saying.

Gordon........Onex.........Hummel 2400

[Bryan Cotton]

I had an experienced tailwheel (ag) pilot do the flight testing on my Sonex, and he is of the opinion that it is not the easiest taildragger that he’s flown.

I'll note the Pawnee is the easiest, most forgiving taildragger I've flown! I have more time in a PA25 235hp than any other single type. I miss flying them dearly.

[daleandee]

I agree that taxiing from the hanger to the runway seems easy. But once you add power for takeoff, the Sonex requires your full attention for a smooth takeoff and landing. I add power gradually and begin to counteract the p factor with rudder. As speed increases, I become sensitive to what the wind adds and counteract that with rudder. After liftoff, I use the rudder to keep the ball centered as I climb out. For landing, I find that keeping a bit of power on helps smooth out the round out and flare, and makes the touchdown smoother. Once the wheels touch, I add a “thought” of forward stick to keep the airplane on the ground. My feet are active counteracting any deviation from the centreline. I’m only looking forward, and am ultra body sensitive to any side to side feel during roll out. Again, this is corrected with rudder.

With practice and training we learn to manage landings and takeoffs better, and eventually they seem easier.

This is a good post. The only thing I might recommend is to use three point take-offs and landings, at least at first. The factory recommends the use of three pointers. Tom Huebbe taught me a good bit about the need for three pointers in this short coupled machine. Once down I like to get the flaps up to put weight on the wheels and a touch of brakes to slow it down.

First landings should be in calm, cool air as much as possible. I don't know that these are the easiest tail draggers to land but with practice it gets more comfortable. Having said that ... I can still screw one up when I get to a fly-in and my mind is on the bar-be-que more than touching down absolutely straight in a slight crosswind. 8~)

Dale Williams
N319WF @ 6J2
Myunn - "daughter of Cleanex"
120 HP - 3.0 Corvair
Tail Wheel - Center Stick
Signature Finish 2200 Paint Job
168.7 hours / Status - Flying
Member # 109 - Florida Sonex Association
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VP7UYEqQ-g

[andrewp]

I will second a look at your wheel alignment, if you are having problems with control on takeoff and landing - shouldn't be like that. I learned tailwheel in a Super Decathalon and a Citabria and the Sonex is a super well behaved tailwheel. It is worth trying to work it out (and this is coming from a dude who flies the family around in an old 182 and I ain't no super pilot).

[peter anson]

Hi Ken, definitely check the wheel alignment. On pilot ability, 3 to 4 hours tailwheel training is not a lot, and sort of depends on your previous experience. I learned to fly in a Gazelle (factory built tri-gear Kitfox with Rotax engine). I then bought a Skyfox (virtually the same thing but with tail wheel and VW engine), which had the reputation of being a pretty tricky aircraft to land. I did 6 hours training with my instructor before he let me loose on the world. The person I sold the Skyfox to was never able to cope with it and sold it, yet after I started flying my Sonex I found the Skyfox dead easy to handle. The big difference was power. The Sonex had twice the power and twice the speed of my Skyfox. That took some getting used to, but I did fairly quickly and it is worth persisting. Good advice from a couple of other posters about g-r-a-d-u-a-l throttle opening.

Peter

[DCASonex]

For a fraction of the time and money you will be losing making the conversion, you could get some more tail wheel time with an instructor and keep your faster, and lighter plane that can operate from more varied field conditions. However, it does sound like you need to correct a significant alignment problems. If gear legs are drilled improperly, they can sometimes be switched end for end and re-drilled (per Kerry a few years ago) saving very expensive titanium.

I do not know if Sonex is the easiest tail dragger to fly, but it is far from the most difficult. I learned on an old Luscombe 8A back in the 80's and had not flown a tail dragger for about 27 years (or any plane for about 16 years) when got some time with an instructor and fairly quickly got back to form. (whether that is good form or not is debatable.) :-) I have found the Sonex far easier and more forgiving than the Luscombe. I do have toe brakes in mine, primarily because of the one time that I found out that when wheel landing a luscombe, it runs out of rudder before it runs out of elevator and the miserable heel brakes of the Luscome where enough to save me from a ground loop. Have seen similar comments on the Waiex.

David A. Sonex TD, CAMit 3300.

[kenandkatie2]

Where are you located? If you’re near Tucson I’ll be happy to fly with you.

Jerry,
Yes, I live on the NW side of Tucson, near Ruthrauff and La Cholla. My Sonex is at Marana Regional. I'd appreciate meeting with you sometime. Thanks.
Ken

[kenandkatie2]

I'm overwhelmed by the response to my query. You provided very helpful information for me going forward. What I failed to mention in my original post was that I nosed the plane over while trying some high speed taxiing last week. It destroyed the prop and damaged the bottom cowling. I have a guy checking it out to give me an estimate on repairs. If I can afford to pay for repairs, I will plan to keep the plane and take all of the advice I've been given by you wonderful people to learn to fly it safely. Thanks.
Ken

[LarryEWaiex121]

Ken,

Don't give up on the tailwheel configuration just yet. Do as others have recommended and make certain that tracking issues aren't adding to your control situation.
All the talk about how "easy" these things are to fly is a generalized statement about smooth air/calm conditions. When that is the case; yes, they are relatively easy to take off and land. Throw in a substantial crosswind and the Waiex can be a real handful.
I'm at 600 hrs in the Waiex now with a Camit 6cylinder and I'm not too proud to tell you I've had two off runway excursions over the 6 years. Both times were trying to land in crosswinds that just flat out were beyond the capabilities of the airplane. I now set my crosswind no goes at 12 knots off the right side and 10 knots off the left side. That's direct, 90 degree wind.
If you pick your battles carefully and get some more time in the plane in calm conditions it will probably help you out a lot. The direct tail-wheel control is both a help and a curse at the same time. At low speed its direct coupling gives great and precise control. On landings in the three point, I try to make a point to straighten up the tail at touch down to keep from pitching the airplane with an off center tailwheel. That could easily be the start of your darting around you mentioned.
In a crosswind condition; knowing the plane will weathervane despite ones best efforts to keep it straight, I line up on the far side of runway on final. I use the cross-control, wing down technique to the limits of my wing to runway clearance and immediately upon touchdown, raise the flaps to get as much weight on the mains and tail as possible. Without differential braking your going to weathervane but, normally you can get the speed off and still have room to keep it all on the pavement. Twice I bit off more than me and the plane could chew. Ooops. Neither event broke or dinged anything other than my pride.
Just practice in calm conditions. As you gain experience your tolerance to more rough and tumble conditions will grow.
Keep in mind always, this is a very light airframe and like Clint says, "A man's got to know his limitations".

Larry

[Direct C51]

Ken, how did you nose it over? You must not have the original drum brakes, those things don't work well enough to nose over.

High speed taxiing is probably the worst thing to do in a taildragger in my opinion. That is generally the least controllable speed, and I spend as little time as possible there. This is because you are too slow to have an effective rudder yet too fast to have much weight on the wheels. My best tip would be to always land and takeoff in a 3 point in the beginning. Once you are on the ground and done flying, keep the stick all the way back so there is weight on the tailwheel. Keep your feet alive and the airplane pointing straight. That's all there is to it!