Eliacim,
Don't beat your self up over this. The other two things different you
were encountering here were heal brakes and right hand control stick
with left throttle. The first Ercoupe I bought in 1986 did not have
rudder pedals. I flew it for 10 years but took my biannual in other
stuff just so I didn't totally forget what to do with my feet but
when I got the Navion I was caught of guard by the amount of P factor
that 205HP engine had the first time I shoved the throttle in for
take off. I upgraded the engine to 260HP but by that time I was used
to it and the extra HP did not bother me. I flew a T34 that had the
right stick and left throttle and it did not give me any trouble
because it was so easy to fly and land but it did not have any nose
wheel steering and I could not taxi it to save my life. After the
Navion I got another Ercoupe with rudder peddles but you really don't
need to use them. In fact the combination of rudder peddles and
steering the nose on the ground with the yoke drives non Ercoupe
pilots nuts. After all this I tried a Champ and it kicked my butt.
The tail wheel, right stick, left throttle and heal brakes were just
too many differences all at once. I then bought a Bellanca Crusair.
165HP, side by side seating, right throttle and toe brakes. Only two
differences here, tail wheel and toe brakes. I felt comfortable and
did not have any problem landing it. I now have the Crusair and I
just bought back that first two control Ercoupe. Anyway all aircraft
are different and have their quirks that most of us that are not
natural born pilots need to get used to. For me it helps if there are
not so many differences at once.
Kevin
--- In [email protected], "heavensounds"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Merry Christmas to all!
>
> My A&P / IA, who is also a CFI and a personal friend, gave me a
surprise Christmas gift yesterday: 1/2 hour of dual in a Champ
(Aeronca) 7EC.
>
> It was... a humbling experience...
>
> In flight, I had to work hard to keep the plane pointing where I
wanted, but believe it or not, the hardest challenge (excluding
takeoff and landing - which I did not attempt) was to taxi the plane.
I was all over the place taxiing, and barely able to control the
thing. (I have left out the most embarrassing details...)
>
> I am a Sport Pilot with 220 hours, but nearly all of them are in my
two control Ercoupe, in which I took primary training and my
checkride. Therefore, I have two huge learning curves to contend
with:
>
> (1) No significant rudder pedal experience - All my reflexes are
set to work only with the yoke...
>
> (2) The whole taildragger thing.
>
> We agreed that I would need more than 10 hours of dual before even
considering soloing, because I would have to learn from scratch how
to use rudder pedals, which most pilots learning taildraggers already
know how to do.
>
> I realize that the learning process I need to go through is rather
unique (learn rudder pedals and unlearn two-control) and not a common
one CFIs face when giving primary training.
>
> Any advice on how to learn rudder pedals after having the old brain
hard wired to use only the yoke???
>
> Eliacim
> N87071
> 61TE / GKY
>
