Your First Left Seat Triple Tail Flight

Jonathan Baron

Jonathan Baron

New member
I don't mean your first RIDE in a Triple Tail...I'm sure it was more than fun, but the first time you pilot one...OMG!

Very few of us get our initial flight instruction in anything other than those forgiving blunt tools known as "good trainers." Some (Cubs, Champs) are more interesting than others (C150s/152s). Many of our first airplanes have their peerless virtues, such as Taylorcrafts, Luscombes, C140s and the like. Yet few aircraft deliver that vivid package of qualities that make first flights in a Triple Tail so astonishing. Thus, I figured I'd share mine in the hope of hearing others :P

For me it was the dream deferred. Blinded and seduced by a hangar queen, I'd owned my 'Master for months before that first left seat flight. There was also the little matter of modifying it to allow my sole foot to and fro to make the rudder move left and right. At length and at last the drum roll began. First came all that taxiing and control adjustments to tune and become accustomed to the set-up. I'd flown a similarly modified Luscombe for years, with its rudder so sensitive that a hard sneeze could begin a swerve. The 'Master was as different as a sloop rigged daysailer is from a British Frigate in the Age of Sail. I'd not taxied an aircraft with heft and momentum, with six cylinders in front of me and a wing below me.

Then that late afternoon came when I felt ready, the machine was ready, and a courageous instructor sat next to me whom I'd hoped was ready. I was so happy Russell was nearby too...never would have happened without him, and we were launching from Renton, Washington, his home base. Finally Renton tower said I was ready or, rather, declared it was ready for me to go.

Though not O'Hare, Renton sits amidst all sorts of airspace - Boeing Field and SEATAC - and a bunch of smaller airports nearby. No time to roll out, stop, and take a deep breath. It was time to fly, right now.

The engine roar is just as loud for pilot and passenger alike, but when you're the pilot it's personal; you're connected to it. Rolling now. Excitements swaps places with bewilderment for just a moment - no menacing twitches or head-for-the-weeds threats as I was used to - and the very second bewilderment vanished we were in the air, moving faster right after take-off than the top speed of my Luscombe. I began SCREAMING with joy. I have no recollection of the syllables I shouted, just the shouting: euphoria like a cannon. My instructor who'd flown true piston powered birds of war, as well as jets, was more concerned with details...something we were cleared for a minute ago....East Channel Departure or some-such...stay below twelve hundred feet until...whatever. Yoke forward=go faster, gimme any heading you want, buddy, WE'RE OUT OF HERE! Bellanca has left the airspace!

I'd been in the right seat with Russell flying many times before this day, thus the 2x ground objects vanishing beneath me speed did not shock me. Nor did flying the pattern at Arlington, Washington with all its trim crank turning and yoke heaving to get the speed down to get the flaps down, along with the "We're too high!" followed by the "No we're not!" throttle squirt on final.

"We're down," said the instructor.

"What?" I asked, waiting for a touchdown chirp.

"We've LANDED."

"Huh?...Oh!"

When you've blasted effortlessly into the sky, and your wheels have rolled onto the runway before you know you've landed, it ain't pilot skill. It's a new world.

Jonathan
 
Jonathan, I would like to tell you about my first flight in the left seat of a tripple tail...unfortunatley, it hasn't
happened yet. My 14-13 is still in various stages of assemly/restoration in all five of my garages. Consequently I spend a lot of time between garages looking for tools, parts, etc. I expect it is still at least a year away before I can tell about my first ride in the left seat of a tripple tail, but I can't wait to experience it. Thanks for sharing your story.
Gary
 
Then we have something to look forward to, Gary :)

We have more than a few folks reading this forum who labor long, awaiting that day. Two of them are named Dave I believe :wink:
 
Thanks, I appreciate that!

I had hoped, though, to get other people's stories, which is why I began the topic. However, I launched it with my own explosion of purple, "And the heavens opened!" over-the-top prose that tends to discourage contributions, alas. When I get carried away, people tend to get quiet <sigh>.

If I'd just said, "So...what was your first flight like?" and left it at that I think it might have worked better.

Okay then! So...what was your first left seat flight in a Triple Tail like? What was it that made you go, "Holy Sh**!" Maybe it wasn't a HS moment...maybe it was a warm, grinning moment, or something else. I don't know, but I think it would be nifty if folks shared their love stories.

And, to poke a guy I deeply respect: Hey Dan - some decades ago, you wrote a letter to an earlier Bellanca club newsletter, saying, as I recall, "After all, if we [triple tail guys] had more money, we'd all own Vikings." It's in that collection our Club offers for sale (no, I don't receive commissions). What was it, Dan, that led you later down the path of truth and ultimate enlightenment? A trip to an ashram in India, or something about flying these wonderful airplanes? 8)

<G,D,R> :lol:

Jonathan
 
That note must date back to the '70s. It was probably an observation that many people have about equipment. Newer, better equipped, faster, blah,blah and more blah. Instead, I concentrated on older and more beat up stuff. On another note........My first triple tail flight was in June 1970. I had just purchased my 14-13-2 in Oshkosh, WI.{before the very first OSH fly-in,by the way}. The owner wouldn't fly with me; so, off I went by myself to Galesburg and Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. No big deal.
 
Yes, Dan, it was from the '70s :)

By "no big deal" you mean it was not hard for you to do? But it had to have been a big deal in another way, as it appears it changed your life in aviation. Lucky for many of us that it did :!:

Jonathan
 
By "no big deal," I meant that it was an easy transition for young, confident young man. I was a 2d Lt. in the US.Army, ready to report for that service's flight school. Heck, I already had a Commercial license, about 1000hrs-mostly in a variety of taildraggers. However, I didn't have any mentors as far as owning and operating a Bellanca. Most of what I know today is self taught. There are so many of our members [and non members] who are in the same position as I was in 1970. Some of the great mysteries of ownership and maintenance I have experienced before. I do not profess to know anything close to 'all.' I'm more than happy to pass on what I do know, so that the great mysteries aren't so great.
 
My first left seat Cruisemaster flight was at Glacier Park in Kalispell Montana. I'd just bought the airplane based on settling on a Cruisemaster as sufficiently "unique", fast, and a taildragger, but had never flown in one. Before launching into the wild blue I wanted to get a checkout, so an instructor went around the patch for an hour with me. There's plenty of runway at Glacier Park, and I'd had some 210 time and about 200 hours of tailwheel by then so it wasn't a big transition, more getting used to the sight picture and where the controls were. The instructor had never been in a Cruisemaster either so in retrospect the checkout wasn't worth much other than peace of mind. At the time I wasn't paying much attention to the flying qualities.

My first solo was launching west from Kalispell over the Cabinet Range and the Cascades to get to Everett WA later that day. By the time I was over eastern Washington I was grooving on the flight qualities and worrying about fuel management. No incidents in either category and it has been a great airplane. Like Dan I was clueless about "Bellanca knowledge" but was too young and foolish to be worried about it much...

Since then I've had to jump into several new airplanes with no checkout at all. The most memorable was the first flight in my Ryan, where the former owner would not fly it for a checkout. I got in, started up, and during the runup went IFR inside the cockpit as the engine blew out smoke from months of non-flying (it is radial engine powered and accumulates oil in the exhaust stacks). I remember taking off from Mohave in the summer, hotter than heck with gusty winds, and having to circle for 15 mins downwind of the ridges near Tehachapi to climb out of the huge sinkers. The cockpit in the Ryan is very drafty but I was sweating it out. The funny part was that I should have paid more attention to the fact that smoke had leaked into the cockpit. After I'd landed in Merced I found out that a couple of holes in the firewall leaked really hot air and had burned my feet through my shoes. I had a few small blisters for a week but didn't even notice the heat while I was in the air! I've since replaced the exhaust with one that doesn't leak, but the engine does still burn off oil and smoke *outside* the cockpit now.
 
I was young and stupid and just jumped into the plane and flew it home without a hitch. I received 1.4 hours of instruction in a Cessna 140 the day prior so that was my total taildragger time. It really is the most forgiving taildragger that there is. I bought my present 14-19-2 because it was the one plane of the 9 previous planes I had owned that really put the biggest smile on my face. I sold a 300 horsepower A-36 Bonanza to buy the Bellanca. I don't think I traded down. It was and still is exciting everytime I fly the Bellanca-I feel like I'm flying rather than driving the baby.
 
Ah....i wish I could claim youth for my fancy. I only began flying in '93, in my 40s, and was in my 50s before my first Triple Tail flight. Nowadays they say that taking on significant new endeavors that require substantial skills is good for the brain. I wish I could claim that too :roll:

Jonathan
 
I recall the first time in the left seat of my Cruisair was a gray January day in 2006. The Minnesota winter was fairly easy that year and warm enough for flying. The plane had been delivered to me a week or so prior and I had only flown one time in it from the right seat.... I had a wonderful instructor with me to fly off the insurance required 10 hours and get my taildragger endorsement. My only other time in a taildragger was a few hours in a J-3 Cub.

We spent most of the lesson taxiing and making runs down the runway, letting the tail come up and then pulling back on the power so I could experience the roll out phase before ever making a real landing. After he was satisfied with my progress and the benign ground handling of the Cruisair, we did another run and this time left the power in. In the 25 degree air, we were quickly airborne and my "new" Cruisair climbed out wonderfully. We turned crosswind and departed to the south. I could immediately feel the responsiveness and wonderfully light, balanced feel of the controls. I raised the gear and saw even better climb in the cold air. We settled in over frozen fields and he told me to "shake hands with your new plane". I put it through some steep turns, climbing and descending and couldn't get over how totally connected I felt to this airplane. It was so easy and responsive to do whatever with it.... Unlike Cessnas and Pipers that seem to "plane" along through the air - almost fighting the air and gravity to stay aloft, the Cruisair really felt like it was "soaring" - like it was in harmony with the air and the forces of nature.

I offered the controls to my instructor an he did a few turns in it remarking that it had good, "old airplane" feel to it. We did the usual slow flight and stall series. The plane showed me no bad habits. The stall was definitely a stall and not a mush - but quickly recovered. We came back and I did my first 3-point landing. I noticed how well it behaved in the flare and touchdown. As the airspeed bled off, sink rate was easily managed. Some airplanes I had flown developed a disturbing sink rate as you got slower but not the Cruisair. That wing just behaves so well... Through ground effect and down to the runway, the plane simply settled onto its landing gear and the roll-out wasn't bad at all. My feet were busier than before but I thought right away that it had such nice control response that it was an easy airplane to land WELL. I'm sure I carried a goofy grin the whole day.

I've read that the heavier Cruisemasters and Vikings lose some of the control balance - mostly heavier pitch response I'm told. I'd like to try them out but remain convinced that the Cruisair has the finest, most well-balanced handling of any airplane out there - certainly anything in its size/weight/power range.
 
Nifty pirep!

I've only flown right seat in a Cruisair, but I agree with those folks you've been speaking to regarding the difference between the lighter Cruisair and the heavier 'Masters. I've never flown in a Viking. The chief difference I noticed is something often referred to as break-out forces: the force you need to apply to get a control surface moving. You need slightly more for the 'Master's ailerons but I'm not sure if it's due to weight as much as it is a difference in the actuating mechanism. As a drag reduction measure - and perhaps for other reasons - the 'Master uses tubes rather than the cable system on the Cruisair. I'm sure there are worthy arguments for each, though I doubt there is any meaningful difference in drag.

One guy who could really evaluate and report the differences would be Randy, but I've not seen him around here in awhile. He owns a Cruisair and a Viking. Owners of the latter universally praise its handling as well, though I doubt many of them have a Triple Tail to compare it to. I know Vikings have been aerobatted in air shows, but I've never seen a performance first hand. I have experienced first hand a ride in a 'Master where the pilot performed some "interesting" maneuvers :) Not the sort of thing I'd try :shock:

Jonathan
 
I have not been on in a while because it seems like I piss people off to often. I type with one finger and try to get to the point real quick and sometimes it comes out very abrasave.

To the subject. I have had the oppertunity to fly the Cruisemaster and I own a Cruiseair and Viking. Flying they are like night and day. As been said the Cruiseair handles very light . I really wish it had a stick,it would be almost perfect. The Cruiseair weighs around 1300# empty and the Viking weighs around 2300# empty. They removed 1 bay of alerones and add that to the flaps. The Viking will roll and loop but it is heavy on the controls. The Cruisemaster handles more like the Viking with a tailwheel. I have a friend with the Master and he has dragged the outside stabilizer on the ground trying to land in a very hard crosswind. with the nose to high. almost lost it. If anyone is interested it is for sale. (I think a little to high $55000).

I am going to try and make a couple of flyings so I can meet a few of you. The Cruiseair has about 800 hrs scince rebuilt and does not look as good as it used to but it still flys SWEET. See you all latter.

PS I wish we had spell check on this thing. :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Uh....Randy....I don't recall you pissing off anyone here in the Triple Tail forum, the guy who got pissed in the Viking forum got nailed by a bunch of us because he didn't much care for the answer to a question HE posed, and nobody gives a frack - flying or otherwise - about spelling. Direct works. I'm so glad you reappeared :)

Jonathan
 
Randy,

If you are using IE and want a spell checker go here.

http://www.iespell.com

It works very well.

Kevin
 
Thanks Jonathon. Except for Dave an Lynn there is not much restoration going on. I think we should all fly over to Daves and help him put his together. he is going to miss out on the flyins this year. It looks like lynn might make it. I know how much work it is, it took me 22 months of evenings and weekends and no wife. I am trying to get 2 other folks to go and head for Sun & Fun Thursday evening. If we go I will be in the Viking. (N#14738) we will arrive around lunch Friday. If we make it I will stop by the club tent.

Larry I am not sure about Columbia. It is about 12hrs with fuel stops and I can't find anyone that wants to be that close to me for that long and then do it again 2 days latter. The last 2 times I went alone . There are some really nice sites from here to there to see . It would be more fun to sure it with my wife. Will see. :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
My first left-seat flight in a triple tail was in October 1995, the first leg of a solo cross-country from Belen, NM (50 miles or so south of Albuquerque) to Sanford, ME. What an adventure! This was my first (and last) operational airplane, so I was (pardon the pun) sitting on top of the world. After about 10 minutes, I was crossing 7500 msl mountains at 9500 msl, on my way to Amarillo, TX. I was happy but nervous. I had a grand total of maybe 20 tailwheel hours, all but 1 in a J-3 Cub, and no retract time. On top of this, I left Belen later than I had hoped, so I got into Amarillo right around dusk. The Cruisair was so clean, it was hard to slow down, and I entered a right base (per tower instructions) faster than I should have. Landing was exciting, but uneventful, my having approached too fast (70 MIAS) or so, yet the Cruisair landed and tracked straight down the runway.

Then, after tying her down, I realized I had left my wallet in NM, so I "slept" (not much) in the pilots' lounge, waiting for FEDEX to deliver my wallet around noon the next day.

Despite 22 years in the Navy, including some backseat time in Navy jets, conning Destroyers at sea, and an "all-expense-paid" vacation to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and other eastern countries, this was the greatest adventure of my life. I was 33, single, and had noplace to be for several weeks.

What a joy!
 
Whoh, that certainly covers a LOT of country and a lot of very different country. My sister in law grew up near Belen and when she first visited our family in Massachusetts she got green "tunnel" overload on the ride from the airport.

In this age when anyone can grab all sorts of information, I see that your Cruisair was sold around 14 months later to a fella in New Hampshire. "...first (and last) operational airplane," sounds final, but I'm not prying. It's none of my business. Glad you had the opportunity to experience that. One sweet aspect of GA is how wallets seldom vanish even when lost or left behind. We may read about drug cartels stealing Caravans and King Airs, but I've never seen those sorts of aircraft as GA airplanes to begin with no matter what the regs say.

Jonathan
 
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