EAA Sport Aviation - December 2011

knots, requiring the best efforts of even the most proficient pilot. Sadly, the pilot became confused as he taxied downwind to parking. As the tail lifted, pushing the nose down, the pilot countered by doing what seem instinctual: He pulled back on the yoke.

Amazingly, the aircraft
shuddered to a stop dead
center on the taxiway.

While that action might raise the nose in
flight, it has the opposite effect when taxiing
with a tail wind. The lifted elevator merely
provides a larger surface upon which the
wind can act, pushing the tail up and driving
the nose down. With each gust, the pilot
hauled back harder on the controls, until
finally the show climaxed with a spray of
sparks showering off the prop as it ground
into the taxiway.

FAILED BRAKE

“Okay, Greg, your right brake just failed, and there’s an aircraft blocking the next intersection. Let’s see if you can stop this thing before we crash.” It was one of my favorite drills, and I had yet to find a student who could successfully manage the failed brake scenario when it tumbled into his or her lap during taxi. Most pilots tend to taxi a bit faster than necessary, and when excess speed combines with an unexpected situation, students find themselves rapidly running out of asphalt, ideas, and directional control.

Greg surprised me, coping calmly and effectively with a technique I had never seen. First he pushed hard on the right rudder to turn the nose wheel. Just as the aircraft began to lurch to the right, he jammed on the left brake. Amazingly, the aircraft shuddered to a stop dead center on the taxiway, completely missing the imaginary aircraft at the intersection. Of course,

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