I thought my Dimona was the nastiest taildragger I ever flew (maybe 800 hours in taildraggers up to the Beech 18 and one short taste of a DC-3). PIO was just a breath away on both takeoffs and landings. The guy I bought it from 15 years ago, when asked about crosswind technique explained it this way: go someplace else.
But it is not bad at all now, after redoing the tailwheel fork. It seems that someone had done a repair to the fork before my purchase that had zero degrees of rake. Redone with 8 degree, the Dimona now resembles a normal airplane. Cheers to all, Michael Stockhill Polson, MT USA On Mon, Apr 25, 2016 at 2:38 PM, Laurie Hoffman via dog < dog@lists.riverland.net.au> wrote: > I'll add a couple of points to Nigel's... > > Firstly, I similarly have great confidence in the H36's ability to cope > with very strong crosswinds, far greater than just about any other glider > or light aircraft. > > Nigel referred to the significant weight on the tail wheel which certainly > aids with directional stability while the tail wheel is in contact with the > ground. Although standard tail dragger training requires the holding of > full back stick while rolling out or taxiing into wind (and the reverse > with a tailwind), the additional downward load on the rear can be excessive > with full back stick. > > I generally just use full rear trim while taxiing and this holds the tail > down quite sufficiently. > > Regards > Laurie Hoffman > > *SYDNEY MOTOR GLIDER FLIGHT GROUP* > > > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Nigel Baker <ni...@limbachaustralia.com> > *To:* dog@lists.riverland.net.au > *Sent:* Monday, 25 April 2016, 22:06 > *Subject:* Re: [DOG mailing list] Crosswind > > Hi Kristin. > Your mail was not sent to the list as this address is not registered. I > have passed it for posting but if you want to use this address in the > future it will pay to register at > http://waikeriegliding.com/dog/ > > I hope that A you are keeping Tom under control and B that your mail means > the test pilot is ready to do the deal with the task at hand. > > Yes there is no designated cross wind limit in the H36 Tail Dragger. It is > up to the pilot’s discretion. > Once and only *once* in a bad situation and under duress with no other > safe alternatives at that altitude with engine off (I always land engine > off wherever practical) I successfully landed in 35knts cross wind. It took > all the experience in the aircraft I had but I did uneventfully. I wouldn’t > recommend it but it can be done. > Practically I don’t know what the limit is but it is high. Managed > properly with the steering tail wheel on the ground till flying speed is > attained 20knts is easy when you know the aircraft. > With 80kgs on the tail wheel empty the yaw control of the aircraft is very > solid till late in the ground roll when the tail lifts and then the rudder > has full authority anyway. > Landing is the same. Land 3 point and hold the tail down being careful not > to over control yaw once on the ground. This means transitioning from > rudder yaw control to tail wheel yaw control as the change is very > positive. Once that tail wheel touches and bites the increase in control is > significant so go light on the rudder pedals at that time. Once used to the > aircraft you can take off an land in conditions a Cessna pilot wouldn’t > dream of attempting. It is a real confidence booster knowing that if things > go array on route you can put it down safely. > This is one of the BIG plusses for the H36 over most other Motor Gliders > and especially the G109 which is not much chop in a cross wind and can be a > real handful. When Grob stated 12 knots in the manual they really meant it. > Hope that is of help. > Cheers. > Nige. > > > *From:* Kristin Nowell <kristinnow...@gmail.com> > *Sent:* Monday, April 25, 2016 6:47 AM > *To:* dog@lists.riverland.net.au > *Subject:* [DOG mailing list] Crosswind > > Hi all, > > The flight manual doesn't give a max xwind, any comments from experienced > pilots? the HK36 is 17 knots... > > Thanks! Kristin > > >
