Group,
A few thoughts occurred to me yesterday watching two Flitzer enthusiasts valiantly coping with poor field conditions and winds taxying the prototype without benefit of brakes on a very boggy hillside.
In handling a tailskid-equipped or tailwheel type when taxying downwind it is sometimes necessary to actually push the stick forward to prevent the wind lifting the tail, depressing the elevators to create a 'down' force on the horizontal tail. This is a difficult thing to judge sometimes and the elevator has to be reversed if the tail suddenly becomes light should the aeroplane be allowed to accelerate or the wind is changeable. On sticky ground and taxying downhill, downwind, this is even more difficult as one has to balance the penetration of the skid into muddy grass, which reduces manoeuvrability, against taxying speed - due to the need to break the surface tension with a lot of power to get the thing moving.
Circumstances could not have been much worse for ab initio practice yesterday with a variable SSE wind and a nearly water-logged, lumpy surface where you'd have had to make a delicate judgement between the tailwind effects and increasing slipstream working in opposite directions in an unfamiliar aeroplane.
Often one can improve the handling downwind by using the big, effective ailerons to help turn, in a natural direction, ie. stick to the right to help turn right with right rudder. Into wind the situation reverses as far as ailerons are concerned, with opposite aileron used, 'against' the turn. On drier ground and with a light wind the aeroplane can be manoeuvred very easily - almost as if it has brakes, and much less power is needed to get things moving. For extreme turns, ie. 180 degrees of rotation, it is normal to use full rudder, full power, stick forward to unload the skid, with ailerons either neutral or as appropriate for the wind, to virtually pivot the machine on the inside wheel, applying opposite rudder to correct 'just before' achieving the required heading to allow for inertia. In a short time it is possible to acquire the skills necessary to handle a brakeless, tailskid-equipped biplane and make the machine do exactly as it is bidden, confidently approaching that fine line of knowing what you can and can't do in certain circumstances, or when to quit and call for assistance.
The two new Flitzer Flugkapitans did very well.
Flitzer los,
Lynn