I had exactly 170 hours when I bought my taildragger KR2, mostly on Diamond Katana and Piper Cherokee. This was in South Africa, and local rules required a taildragger endorsement and a type conversion. I found a suitable instructor (himself rated on the type), but he wanted me to get my taildragger rating on a more forgiving aircraft before starting the conversion. I got 5 hours of Bellanca Superdecathlon time, then we started the KR2 training. I must say I am a very average pilot, and I battled for quite a while to get it right. After 7 hours of training with little improvement, I started doing some solo high speed taxi training. This taught me how to touch down properly. Then, I did some more flight instruction, concentrating on holding the approach speed accurately. That did the trick. In total, it took me 15 hours of flight instruction to feel safe and comfortable in the KR2. But I am probably an extreme case, and the difficult conditions in Johannesburg (hot, high and sometimes windy) probably did not help. This being said, had I soloed earlier, I would probably have survived the experience, but with a higher pucker factor.
Then, one day, a good 50 flight hours later, I noticed that I could keep the altitude and heading accurately without thinking, and the balance ball was now self-centering. The KR2 had just made me a better pilot. I could "feel" the aircraft in a way that I had never experienced in any Cessna, Piper, or even the Diamond Katana. A C150, he said? Look, if I was offered a Cessna 150 tomorrow, I would quickly sell it, and buy another high performance homebuilt with the money. Serge Vidal KR2 "Kilimanjaro Cloud" Canberra, Australia " Ce courriel et les documents qui y sont attaches peuvent contenir des informations confidentielles. Si vous n'etes pas le destinataire escompte, merci d'en informer l'expediteur immediatement et de detruire ce courriel ainsi que tous les documents attaches de votre systeme informatique. Toute divulgation, distribution ou copie du present courriel et des documents attaches sans autorisation prealable de son emetteur est interdite." " This e-mail and any attached documents may contain confidential or proprietary information. If you are not the intended recipient, please advise the sender immediately and delete this e-mail and all attached documents from your computer system. Any unauthorised disclosure, distribution or copying hereof is prohibited."
