Flight School: Tailwheel Training

Pia Bergqvist

Friday, September 30, 2011 at 05:38 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Rich Stowell advocates for primary tailwheel training, arguing it develops superior directional control and rudder awareness, which benefits pilots in all aircraft types and can reduce loss-of-control accidents.
Kerry Hackney contends that basic stick and rudder skills can be learned in any aircraft, and training should focus on the specific, often technologically advanced, aircraft a pilot intends to fly.
Hackney emphasizes that modern flight instruction must adapt to current aircraft and customer needs, incorporating real-world, scenario-based flying and comprehensive systems understanding, rather than solely traditional methods.

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Does it make sense to do primary training in a tailwheel airplane?

(September 2011) Rich Stowell has been instructing full time since 1987. He has logged 32,000 spins, 23,000 landings and 8,300 hours of tailwheel time. Stowell was the 2006 FAA National Flight Instructor of the Year and is a seven-time NAFI Master Flight Instructor and charter member of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE). He says: