Tailwheel Pilot

I am finally tailwheel endorsed. That means I can fly the airplanes that were made in the old days when "conventional" (so called because that was the only way they were built for the longest time) landing gear meant there were two wheels in the front and one on the tail. Since the center of gravity in these airplanes is close to the main gear (the front wheels), the airplane naturally wants to go backwards if the tailwheel, center of gravity and the direction of motion are not in a perfectly straight line. The other problem is that one has to land on all three wheels simultaneously. Land on just the front two at low speed and you will just bounce up. As a result, flying these airplanes is challenging to most pilots who learn to fly in a tricycle gear airplane i.e. with one wheel in the front and two behind. The stuff that looks like this.

Someone at some point figured out that this geometry is much easier to land. The geometry ensures that the nose wheel wants to keep going in the direction of motion. In other words, this geometry makes a pilot much more sloppy in landings with the added benefit of making the pilot seem much better than he/she actually is. In conditions which require precise landing and take-off skills like very short fields or dirt strips, someone who has no idea of the limitation of a tricycle gear is likely to overestimate their ability in it.

All old school pilots think that new students should learn to fly in taildraggers or at the very least get an endorsement in one after getting the license. For airplane owners, a tailwheel endorsement ensures lower insurance rates in some cases since it is proof of enhanced skill.

My instructor belongs to the old school and because of that he taught me to land tricycles the right way i.e. being very precise. It therefore didn't take too long for me to get the new endorsement in his personal Cessna 140 (similar to one in first picture) - a plane that was built in 1946 and flies better than most new airplanes in its class.