ETLB Squawk Forums — Archive

I've started to run taxi test on my Max 1030. The rudder/steering seems awful sensitive over about 15mph. Is this typical?  

Short coupled and light! They are finger tip aircraft to fly, and be warned, they shed airspeed in the blink of an eye if you move the stick back a very small amount. Having said that, they are lovely to fly unless you've stepped straight out of a Cessna!

Actually coming from 450 hours of Cessna tailwheel time! I knew the Max would take a bit of getting used to, but it was more sensitive than expected. The good news is I graduated today from high-speed taxi to my first flight around the patch. I kept it tight, as the altimeter wasn’t working. The plane handled nicely, and no bent gear upon landing!!

Congratulations on that first flight.

dtpilot,

Are you flying off grass or pavement? Rolling out after landing on pavement it is big toe pressure only on the pedals for directional control or you will be oversteering. on grass it is much more forgiving of being heavy footed. Unlike most taildraggers, the max has a direct steering pushrod running the tailwheel so sensitivity increases with speed vs decreasing like it would with a chain and spring setup.

when fast taxiing a max at 15+mph, the best practice is to get the stick forward and get the tail in the air, at slower speeds just like any taildragger STICK BACK and keep it there till you stop moving.

Chris  

My first one was a handful on the ground and found the tail wheel bar was not at the right angle and the wheel wasn't straight on the shaft like it should have been.  Got those two things fixed and it was a lot better.  Everyone is right they are light touch planes but just because they are doesn't mean something else isn't making it worse