"New Caretaker of Swift N78097" 
~Or~ 
"Learning to Fly Again" 

By Mike Norton
Rineyville, Kentucky

I have always admired the Swift airplanes of any configuration from stock to the Super Swifts. They always look like they are in motion even when just sitting on the ramp. From the painted to the highly polished, they are still remarkable airplanes today, some 60 years after production. On March 18, 2006, I became the new caretaker of N78097, a 1946 GC1B with a 0-300D engine.

I had read many scary tales and stories of learning to fly the Swift. Even stories about flight instructors who had destroyed them by thinking that they were just normal tail draggers and that anyone with tailwheel experience could fly them. Some stories describe in detail how Swifts have the glide path of a bus and fall out of the sky and no one can possibly three point land one. I now believe most of these stories were penned by inexperienced Swift pilots or Swift owners and/or pilots who did not obtain the proper instruction from a qualified Swift instructor.

Even though I have over 750 hours total time (which is not very many) and an instrument rating, due to my inexperience with the Swift or a tailwheel plane the insurance company required that I have 15 hours of dual before I could solo the Swift and another 10 hours flying alone before I could carry passengers. The FAA only requires a tailwheel endorsement for anyone wanting to fly tailwheel airplanes. That can usually be obtained somewhere between 2 and 12 hours of instruction. To assist me in the transition from tricycle to tailwheel and to the Swift, I enlisted the help of well-known Swifter William "Bo" Mabry of Beaufort, South Carolina. Bo only has about 10 or 20 zillion (a bunch) hours of flying experience both as an ATP, a CFI, CFII , IA, A&P and a Swift owner/instructor. He is indeed a remarkable instructor as well as a true southern gentleman. He will bring out qualities and precision in you that you didn't know existed. If you don't know Bo, you owe it to yourself to search him out, when and if you have the opportunity, and get to know him.

Bo and I picked up the plane from the previous owner at Frogmore International Airport (73J) in Beaufort, South Carolina. With a new checklist in hand, I began the preflight while Bo pointed out the quirks and special items to check on the Swift, like emergency gear cable and how to burp the airplane after refueling. Due to two interconnected wing tanks and only one filler tube, you can have an air bubble and not be completely full. The solution is to get under the pilot side wing toward the tip and raise it as far as you can without doing damage to the wing or your back. Now the tank can hold 2 to 5 more gallons. 

After an initial generator/battery problem and a few days of weather delays, we flew to Walterboro, South Carolina (RBW), where there were multiple crossed runways. I thought, "Great, I can always land into the wind." But Bo had other ideas. He always made me land with a crosswind. I took off and landed so many times on runway 35 that I swear I could do it in my sleep. Bo taught me the difference between "peg it" (forward pressure to stick the mains to the runway) and "plant it" (full back elevator to get the tailwheel on the ground) very early in the training. I can still hear him today barking orders at me in the intercom (even when I am alone, and that really is a good thing). The most shocking and embarrassing aspect of this whole flying experience is how sloppy I had become in airspeed control, crosswind landings and taxi control. I feel that after years of tricycle gear flying I had become complacent to these things and very inattentive to detail. I'm not sure if Bo was teasing or not when he said, "I could train someone off the street easier than I can train most of you tricycle gear pilots." I quickly figured out the main difference is the center of gravity (CG). In a tricycle gear plane the CG is in front of the main landing gear, and in the tailwheel gear plane the CG is behind the main gear. It can be compared to pulling or pushing your wheeled luggage along. You will find it tracks much easier when pulled along behind you as opposed to trying to push it in front of you. The loss of directional control when the luggage is in front of you is similar to the tailwheel plane control characteristics with the CG behind the main gear. 

Not that I think I am an exceptional pilot, but I feel I am at least average. For the record, this was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. After three or four hours of instruction when my hair was greyer and thinner, I thought, "I will never be able to do all of these things correctly at the same time." It was almost as bad as my instrument training several years ago. I thought I had bit off more than I could chew, a double whammy, learning to control a tailwheel and a Swift on top of that. The next day, after several more hours, things finally started to click and come together. Bo had me constantly striving to higher standards and control, and I was beginning to feel comfortable and thought, "Now I might get a shot at the left seat (where the brakes are)." During the first 4-5 hours, it is obvious why you don't get to sit in the left seat. Someone with more experience than you needs the pedals with the brakes. 

After lining up the airplane in the center of the runway and letting it roll forward a little to center the tailwheel, I still had to make a conscious effort to keep the yoke full back in my belly. Bo was with me every step, instructing me on the proper procedures. With brakes released, and the yoke still in my belly, I would add power smoothly until at maximum power. Due to the short fuselage and relatively small rudder, the application of power needs to be slow and smooth to avoid quick torque changes. I was able (with enough right rudder) to keep somewhat on the centerline. When there is a left crosswind of 12-15 knots, you could easily run out of right rudder and may have to start tapping the brake as well. As the airspeed indicator comes alive around 40 mph, let off the back pressure and rotate onto the mains with forward pressure. After accelerating to 60-65 mph, I was able to keep the plane on the centerline then release the forward pressure, and the Swift would just fly off the ground. OK, maybe there was a skip or two at one time or another, but I was getting better. The procedure to take off seemed awkward or even backward from tricycle gear planes. Normally, you pull the yoke back to lift off. In a tailwheel, you shove the yoke forward to get the tailwheel off the ground, and let the aircraft fly itself off the runway. I also noticed I still needed to hold considerable right rudder during the climb. After several more hours of takeoffs and landings, Bo let me into the left seat. I think he had more confidence in me than I did. I began to be more proficient, slowing the Swift down properly and getting the gear and flaps down at the proper speeds. I also noticed after my first takeoff how responsive the aileron and elevator controls were compared to previous planes I had flown.

I was getting consistent making a good approach, which eventually led to being consistent with a good landing. All the time I heard Bo say, "Left rudder, right rudder, stay on the center line, roll that aileron in, too fast, too slow," - or worse - "let me have it." It was all worth it when he said, "Now that was Bo-better"; you finally have "Happy Feet." I eventually found out that "Happy Feet" meant having the proper amount of foot/rudder movement to keep the plane moving in somewhat of a straight line without all of the zigzagging we experienced the day before.

Then came what I had been so worried about all week, landing. Practice until you can make a good, stable approach; get the gear down below 100 mph and flaps down below 90 mph. Where are the flap degree settings for the Swift? There are none. The flaps are either up or down. Keep the proper sight picture (fuselage in line with the centerline). Keep the proper approach speed. Check the wind, make those corrections, and begin with the "Happy Feet," sometimes called "Rudder Dance." Shove the yoke forward (peg it) when all your previous training tells you to pull it back. Keep dancing on the pedals for alignment. You need to anticipate the turning tendencies, not just dance to be dancing. Stay on the pedals; brake only if necessary. How much pedal or aileron? Just ask Bo, and he will tell you, "Whatever it takes." Pull back on the yoke to put the tail on the ground (plant it). All the time you must keep in mind where the winds were, constantly adjusting the ailerons to avoid any possible tracking or wing low situations. One of my problems seemed to be trying to force the plane down to the runway instead of just letting it glide a bit to bleed off airspeed. Bo would say, "Don't dive at the runway." You will never wonder again about where the wind is coming from, as you will make it a point to know ahead of time. For taxiing, it does help to remember the old saying of "climb into or dive away from" relative to crosswinds. 

It sure looks easy on paper but actually is a scary feeling until you feel like you are the driver and not a passenger. I only ground looped once during my training, and it was at a slow enough speed that we only went around for a 180 degree turn and did not damage anything, but it was still an exciting white knuckle moment. To make things worse, the corporate jet coming in behind us could not resist asking if we were OK. We answered "affirmative," but we wanted only to sit there for a minute to allow the adrenalin to bleed off. We were off the apron far enough not to be in his way. 

I'm sure everyone exposed to a tailwheel plane has heard the saying, "Fly the airplane until it's tied and chocked." You don't ever relax, which can't be emphasized enough, but the expression I like best is, "You fly a tricycle gear plane with your hands and feet, you fly a tailwheel gear plane with your fingers and toes." Both sayings are equally important, as you will find in your first few moments of tailwheel time. My all time favorite is, "There are no squirrelly airplanes only squirrelly pilots." This sums up the feeling that tailwheel planes are hard to control. That is not true; they are just different. The truth is that tricycle gear planes are too easy to control. When only tailwheel planes were available, I bet there was not much talk about how hard they were to control. As I said at the beginning, we have all gotten sloppy and need to learn how to fly again.

Did I mention that I now understand completely why the insurance companies require 10-15 hours of dual instruction before being able to solo the Swift? They also required the instructor to have over 750 hours total time, 150 hours tailwheel time, 150 hours retractable time, and 25 hour in make and model. It is not an FAA requirement just an insurance one as insurers are the ones who pay for the damages.

Becoming proficient enough to take off and land the tailwheel Swift safely was not an impossible task, only different. Like any personally rewarding thing, it did require some determination and hard work. It reminds me of when I first got my private pilot's license; now I have a license to learn again. 

Mike Norton
N78097