What takes your fancy, for General Aviation?...>>>

http://www.flyingmag.com/aircraft/why-taildraggers

I rather like that comforting little steering wheel under the nose... ...!

Paul... ...!

Goodly afternoon Paul...

Adam ""wahubna" hit the nail right on the head when he mentioned controversial aviation topics...

Having owned and flown many types with both types of gear and brakes I think it all comes down to what each individual aviator likes and loves.

For example lets take the DeHavilland of Canada DHC-3 Otter, in the wheel/ski configuration she lands with the tail wheel but on amphibious floats she lands like a nose wheel aircraft. Probably the best STOL Bush Aircraft ever made, she can get into places most so called Bush Aircraft can only dream about.

Our Cessna 185 another aircraft that in the wheel/ski configuration will land with a tail wheel but put amphibious floats on her and she lands like a nose wheel aircraft.

The Grumman Tracker that was in the Royal Canadian Navy used both a nose wheel, tail wheel/roller and tail hook.
Quite the aircraft...

http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/assets/pdf/e_GrummanCS2F-CP121Tracker.pdf

Having put a good many year in the left seat of the Douglas DC3 on wheels and wheel/skis it was a large tail dragger.
Once in the left seat of the Douglas DC4 and 6s I didn't ever care to see another DC3.

Folks think they are a great aircraft, however they have never worked them...

Loading and unloading is either uphill or downhill... 

We seem to hear this topic several times a year at the bugsmasher field between those Old Retired Rocking Chair Flying Geezers.   

Some of them flew the AVRO Lancaster, Handley Page Halifax and the Consolidated B24 Liberator during and after the Second World War while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
I knew two chaps who flew all three but they have passed on now...

There are pros and cons to both and think I have heard them all...

Me, my preference, well if the trusty steed has wings is cheap to operate... ...(hey I am a senior now and have to pay for the fuel)... I will fly it.
Does not matter how the gear is configured...

It depends on the type of aircraft. Nosewheels are fine on airliners, military types etc. My first love is light aircraft & taildraggers are still very popular among this community.

When I was young most light aircraft were taildraggers. I've always thought of them as real aeroplanes. Tricycle types like the Cessna 150 & Piper Tri-Pacer* were just being introduced when I started my first job in aviation. I can still remember the first one landing at Shoreham Airport where I worked. They were considered a gimmick at the time & my boss who was an aviation pioneer & highly experienced flying instructor said they would never catch on. How wrong this would prove to be.

*It's becoming very difficult to find a Tri-Pacer with a nosewheel in this country nowadays as most of them have been converted into taildraggers. That must say something. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_PA-20_Pacer

Fozzer wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2012 at 6:25am:

Taxiing, take off & landing taildraggers involves a different technique. The 2D panel in FS is not very realistic in this respect.

PS. These shots were taken at the LAA Rally at Sywell last year. Count the nosewheels. https://plus.google.com/photos/111776794913843321815/albums/5649154205922801425?...

wahubna wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2012 at 2:33pm:

Thanks for looking.

Mictheslik wrote on Aug 15^th, 2012 at 2:48pm:

Thanks Mic. Sadly I won't be able to make it this year.