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Greetings from snow bound WI mudge!
Here's a few thoughts to think about as I went through this very same thing about 4 years ago. The place I learned at does have a citabria as
well as 3 152's and 3 warriors and an piper arrow (complex) and twin
engine toys. I'm getting farther along on my journey to be checked out
in everything in their hangars before I go get deeper into ownership. Again,
1. Tailwheel definitely makes you a better pilot - and are lots and lots of fun. You learn lots about rudder control, stick / yoke control and weight
and balance - (can you say physics experiment!)
but there are caveats that should be thought about..
There are fewer of them to learn with, so it may or may not be available
to fly when you want it. And at your stage you want that same airplane or
type of plane alot so you can keep your familiarity and learn those good
habits. I call this priority one - I want it often, and when I want it.
It will take you longer to solo w/ tailwheel. I went through this dilemma
myself and after a long talk with my instructor he gave me some good
advice.. get your private out of the way first. I'm flying out of a towered
field - to get to that solo I have to have full knowledge of radio, airplane,
emergency procedures, weather effects and pattern work all down to a
well working science before they will trust me with that airplane.
There are people that maybe can get this all down with the added
challenges of tailwheel - the rudder control, nose visibility, etc. but for the
95% of the rest of us.. my instructor told me to add +10 hrs to your
solo time. (why... well they don't want to sign you off too early since
they make less money, b. if you do have an accident it really does look
bad on them, and the FAA does really come down them with accidents,
often looking hard at the whole operation.
c. you take their 1 tailwheel away for a long period of time that others
can't rent it, hurting their cashflow. (often at least a couple months out)
d. statistics don't lie and you're more likely to have a accident in a tw
at this point of your training.
Also, tailwheels will probably cost more / hr (~18-20$/hr more wet).
while lots of people learn on tailwheel, and it does make a great pilot,
I for one chose to focus on getting the knowledge and figuring out how
things work the best for me and my safety.
Also, while many people get a tailwheel certificate in a weekend, or
even in <10 hours.. I doubt that many
places will let you rent theres with less than 15-20 hours of time.
(probably their insurance criteria) . If you didn't learn it there,
they will probably have you go through a very rigorous checkout -
figure 3 hrs of flight time w instructor before they would let you rent
theirs. They want to see time in type, and lots and lots of landings.
Along with all this, I hope you have looked into renters insurance and
have it by the time you solo, you need the protection. I've used AOPA
and Avemco with good coverage at reasonable rates. Unfortunately
when renting, even though a tailwheel makes you a much better pilot,
it doesn't help your insurance rates, nor does a instrument rating for
that matter.
To sum it up... a tailwheel adds to that "license to learn" - its an
absolute blast to learn, teaches you to use your rudder pedals as well
as some very cool manuevers like slips, etc. and in the end it builds
your confidence when you have it down.
So I hope folks find this useful. These are just my opinions and my
experience so others may vary.
henning
_________________
"The best way to control the future is to create it".
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