You’ve found our site, “LadiesLoveTaildraggers.com” but do you know what a “taildragger” is? To the uninitiated an airplane is an airplane, but to those who fly the word “taildragger” can elicit emotions ranging from love & affection to out & out fear. The word “taildragger” is an aviation term that identifies where the landing gear is located on an airplane. Most general aviation airplanes have tricycle gear meaning they have a nose wheel with main gear right behind. A “taildragger” has the same type main gear plus one tiny difference; a small wheel under the tail. It’s a tiny change that makes a big difference when it comes to taxiing, taking off and landing!
MISSION: To encourage women everywhere to have fun flying taildraggers!
This blog isn’t about ratings, hours in the logbook or owning an award winning airplane. It is about flying taildraggers just for the fun of it, introducing more women to aviation and encouraging women (and men) to join the wonderful world of conventional aircraft!
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And if there’s still a question in your mind about what this site is “about”…
ODE TO A CHAMP
In the fall of nineteen-ninety
On a mild November day,
I lost my heart to a little white Champ
As it flew me up and away.
So unhappy was I that I didn’t know how
To myself take a plane to the sky.
And I hadn’t the funds if I did have the skills,
To buy my own aircraft to fly.
Well, after a while I’d mastered the art
Of piloting planes in the blue.
But to own a champ – now that was a thing
How to manage I hadn’t a clue.
For that kind of airplane was rising in price
So much faster than I could save.
By the time I had enough money, I feared,
I would have one foot in the grave!
Some years went by and I flew the planes
With the third wheel on the nose,
But my heart was still with the tailwheel types -
I just had to have one of those!
My funds grew slowly, and from time to time
I’d think that maybe I could
Find a Champ somewhere that I could afford,
But doubted that ever I would.
And then one day – YES, there it was!
A Champ just perfect for me.
The plane, the location, the price was right
Oh, could it really be?
I conferred and thought, had mechanics look,
And after some anxious time,
The deal was made, registration sent -
Eight-Two-One-Four-Seven was mine!
It needed some work and some TLC
To achieve a return to the sky,
But several months later, inspection complete,
The airplane was ready to fly.
Now I swing the prop, bring the engine to life
And take flight whenever I please.
I go up with the birds and the clouds so high
And look down on the tops of the trees.
Yes, I take off and fly in my very own Champ,
From a pretty grass runway, no less!
On the fine autumn day those eight years ago,
Who would have been able to guess?
By “Lindy” (Melinda Hooper)
Autumn 1998