Two rather new flying experiences this week; on Tuesday I had a few shots at flying (and landing) a tailwheel aeroplane, and last night went for a night flight.
Flying a tailwheel aircraft is no different to one with a 'normal' tricycle undercarriage, but when it comes to landing one, thats when things get hairy.
Normally, you have the centre of gravity in front of the main wheels, so when you put on the brakes, the wheels just drag behind the plane, slow you down, and hopefully stop when you want to stop. Tailwheel planes have the main wheels up front, which means you are trying to stop with the full weight of the plane trying to get past the wheels in front.
Keep it balanced, and it all works. But should the plane start to swing sideways, one needs to jump on it quickly or you will quickly find yourself pointed in the opposite direction...
Night flying on the other hand is just lovely. There's normally not much else in the way of air traffic, so its easier to get where you want to go, when there is traffic, its much easier to spot flashing strobe lights in the darkness than a little wing against a cloud. Night is cooler, calmer air, so its a smoother ride... and best of all it looks so pretty up there with city lights below!
Americans need three hours of night flight to get their private licenses; we need ten hours to get a seperate Night rating... well, one hour down! Unlike Australia, there's not much space on the ground here unlit: even between towns there are houses and other lights spattered across the land... makes it very easy to pick which part of the black is land and which is sky.
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