Over the past few weeks, I’ve gotten the chance to fly with a local CFI and earn my tailwheel endorsement. We spent around three hours in the air over the course of a week or so in his J3 Cub learning the basics of tailwheel flying, focusing primarily on the tricky bits, take offs and landings. We also spent some time workin on a grass runway (soft field), which was new to me. It turns out there’s a reason tailwheel pilots love operating on grass runways, in addition to being way easier, it’s just a whole lot of fun.
After he felt comfortable with my skills in the Cub, we upgraded to his 1947 A75N1 Boeing Stearman. The Stearman is a 230hp biplane which was used as a primary trainer for pilots in WW2. In addition to being big, loud, and fun as hell to fly, the Stearman is an incredible piece of tangible American history, and it was some of the most fun I’ve ever had flying.
We spent 3.2 logged in the air over the course of three flights, working takeoffs and landings (the Stearman is a beast to land, particularly on hard surfaces) and finally moving on to my favorite section, aerobatics. We spent around an hour and a half working very basic maneuvers, such as wing overs, barrel rolls, loops, and fully developed spins. The media nerd in me couldn’t resist running some cameras and trying to get decent footage (some of it is better than others) and I’ve added that below.
