Tailwheel training: proficiency endorsements and higher landing accident rates

Pilots who want to fly a tailwheel aircraft must meet the training requirements in FAR Part 61.31(i). The rule was introduced after concern that tailwheel airplanes were being damaged in landing accidents more often than nosewheel aircraft.

Under the provision, a pilot has to show proficiency in normal and crosswind takeoffs and landings, wheel landings, and go-around procedures. No check ride is required. A flight instructor decides what level of performance is acceptable and signs the pilot's logbook to record the endorsement.

One flight instructor writing an account of this has taught tailwheel flying for more than five decades. In that time, every pilot who went through a tailwheel checkout found the effort worthwhile, the instructor says.

Landing accidents still occur more often in tailwheel airplanes than in those fitted with a nosewheel, by roughly two to three times, the instructor states.