Tail spin when landing

[KodiakJac]

What's the secret to keep from going into a tail spin when landing?

 

I can land an E7 and a few of the other less powerful planes with no problem (and anything in Flying Circus), but on many of the more powerful planes I go into a tail spin around 40 mph and break my gear, bend the prop, and end up on my belly...lol  Just did it with an A8 tonight.

 

I've tried opposite rudder and braking the wheel opposite to the direction of the spin, I've tried braking both wheels evenly, I've tried no braking at all, and always with the throttle pulled back all the way.

 

When you take off with a locked tail wheel, does it stay locked?  I've assumed so, but am I wrong?

 

Or is it just one of those things that I'll master after 2,000 to 3,000 landings...lol  I don't remember it being this difficult when I was playing BOS 6 years ago, but maybe I just forgot...lol

[PatrickAWlson]

Tapping brakes.  When you feel the plane wanting to spin, tap the left or right brake opposite the direction of the spin.

[oc2209]

56 minutes ago, KodiakJac said:

 Just did it with an A8 tonight.

 

The Fw-190 family has a tail lock system that involves keeping constant stick pressure. Pull the stick back, hold it back, after you've touched down. This will lock the tail wheel straight, which should allow you to brake without fear of looping. When you want to taxi, let the stick return to neutral for a brief turn, then pull back to lock it so you don't spin in place (which is very easy to do with a totally unlocked tail wheel).

 

For planes that don't have a tail locking mechanism, that unfortunately is just something you'll have to learn.

 

1 hour ago, KodiakJac said:

 

When you take off with a locked tail wheel, does it stay locked?  I've assumed so, but am I wrong?

 

On planes with a normal locking mechanism (unlike the Fw-190's system, which is rare), the game leaves the tail locked at all times by default. You must manually unlock it (only necessary for precision taxiing).

 

For all other planes with no lock (Spitfire, Yak, etc), it is, of course, unlocked all the time.

[oc2209]

Here, this is how a 190 landing could look.

 

Note that I'm not saying 'should' look, because there's nothing good about my approach. Copy my bad/lazy landing technique at your own peril.

 

You want to watch the stick, how I pull back after I've safely touched down, and how easy it is to ride the brakes to hell and back once the wheel's locked.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edit: You don't have to pull the stick back as far as I do to maintain the tail wheel lock. However, I pull it back that far just as a safety precaution to avoid accidental unlocking.

Edited October 11, 2021 by oc2209

[=420=Syphen]

1 hour ago, KodiakJac said:

What's the secret to keep from going into a tail spin when landing?

 

I can land an E7 and a few of the other less powerful planes with no problem (and anything in Flying Circus), but on many of the more powerful planes I go into a tail spin around 40 mph and break my gear, bend the prop, and end up on my belly...lol  Just did it with an A8 tonight.

 

I've tried opposite rudder and braking the wheel opposite to the direction of the spin, I've tried braking both wheels evenly, I've tried no braking at all, and always with the throttle pulled back all the way.

 

When you take off with a locked tail wheel, does it stay locked?  I've assumed so, but am I wrong?

 

Or is it just one of those things that I'll master after 2,000 to 3,000 landings...lol  I don't remember it being this difficult when I was playing BOS 6 years ago, but maybe I just forgot...lol

 

Hold the stick fully back in ALL taildraggers once you've touched down. In the 190's, this will lock the tailwheel. In other aircraft, it keep the tail down and give more steering authority sooner. When doing a tailwheel endorsement, it is taught to always keep stick fully back for a 3 point landing. 

Watch the slip indicator. "Step on the ball".  The ball reacts faster then you will realize and you can use it as a gauge for how much brake / rudder input you need to put in. It will also tell you if you are overcorrecting if it doesn't go center and fires out the other side. 

Light taps of brake initially to ensure you are going straight while playing the rudder and slowly apply more tail pressure.

 

You'll get there in no time! Good luck.

[AKA_Relent]

Besides what’s been said already above, keep the throttle about 10-15% (not idle).  This will produce some airflow over/around the vertical stabilizer/rudder, giving your rudder inputs more authority.

[Dagwoodyt]

This topic has been addressed at length, most recently in a thread about how to land the Lagg3. Might do a search for that thread.

[KodiakJac]

Thanks for all the tips and information, guys!  And I did not know that about the Fw-190.  And it worked like a charm...I landed an A5 last night with no problems.  Also, it solved my takeoff problems with Fw-190, as I'm no longer taking off like a drunk sailor...lol

[zhihengcao]

"Hold the stick fully back in ALL taildraggers once you've touched down. In the 190's, this will lock the tailwheel. In other aircraft, it keep the tail down and give more steering authority sooner. When doing a tailwheel endorsement, it is taught to always keep stick fully back for a 3 point landing. "

 

For some tail draggers like Pitts, Extra the 3 point landing attitude airspeed is much higher than stall speed due to lack of flaps, so if you do that after touch down you will just fly straight up and then stall and crash.  For other tail draggers, pulling stick all the way back will still cause large stress to the tail wheel springs, it may reduce ground loop risks but it does not substitute the need for pilot skills of cross wind correction by rudder and aileron. This game has been great for practicing this at home (landing Bf109F2 on taxi ways without flaps under cross wind condition is a great practice for this, the airplane is modelled very well)