CFI in Northern CO

[rdooley79 28]

Hey Guys,

 

I've been training with a flight instructor here that has been great. He's planning on going up to AK in February for a few months so I need another cfi!

 

Ive got about 22 hours of flight time in my Kitfox 4 with him but am not ready to solo. The plan is to fly as much as possible before he leaves but I need to find another CFI that knows the Kitfox/Avid aircraft. Does anyone know of anyone near me that might know someone who knows a guy who knows a guy who can train me? 

I fly out of Boulder (KBDU). Longmont (KLMO) and Erie (KEIK) are very close by.  Anyone know anyone I might want to talk to?

 

 

 

[akflyer 1427]

you should be solo by now or really darn close.  Fly a bit more between now and then and get your shirt tail cut Mr!

 

[rdooley79 28]

agreed but I'm fighting some negative transfer of skills. Been flying weight shift trikes for over 10 years and have over 1000 hours in weight shift. The controls are all backwards and there isn't a tail. Going to a taildragger is prooving to be a challenge but it's coming. Problem is that the CFI I'm working with isn't as available as I'd like. I'd like to fly as much as possible but some times he's not available for a couple weeks. I've also been going through the systems of the kitfox and that's kept e out of the air too. Combination of things. I'm not in any rush to solo, just want to be super safe. It's not about the time requirement as I already have a sport pilot license. 

 

My problem is raising the tail on takeoff. P factor and the rudder is getting away from me. oddly I can land the airplane because the sight picture is very similar to my trike. In the air I'm o.k. at coordinated flight and airspeed/altitude control. Definitely need a lot more practice but it's fair enough. Really I need to get better with the rudder and aileron controls coming alive on takeoff. I'd have ground looped the plane 20 times by now if my instructor wasn't as good as he is ) 

 

 

[herman pahls 9]

I have been flying tail draggers for 35 years so I am not sure if I will be any help since I cannot remember what is was like in the beginning.

I am not an instructor so I hope others will correct me if I am wrong or giving bad advice.

Brakes  are my only ground directional control since my tail wheel is free swiveling and not connected to the rudder cables.

I am not suggesting disconnecting your tail wheel but using this as an example of how I control my direction until the rudder becomes effective.

Assume you are taking off in a tri gear Kitfox that  does not have nose gear steering like a Cessna 150 has.

Until the rudder becomes effective  you have no choice but to use the brakes for directional control to counter P factor, wind,....

I cannot emphasis how important your brakes are.

Your brakes are the only thing that will save you from a ground loop if a serious cross wind gust hits you at the speed that you are transitioning from tail wheel to rudder control.

In my opinion you do not need to raise the tail first to take off, but I do most of the time for better visibility and to save my tail wheel from rocks and holes.

Doing a 3 point take off will save you the step of raising the tail  but it can be risky if you do not neutralize the elevator before taking off.

I adjust my brake pedals so that they respond immediately to my inputs but also so I am  not inadvertently dragging the brakes from normal rudder inputs.

You also may be raising the tail too soon and the rudder is not yet effective.

I wish you well and it will be well worth effort when you get your "shirt cut".

Herman