I sat down with private pilot Brett Bernhard to talk about his most recent pilot advancement.
Background
Brett earned his tailwheel endorsement in the Aeronca Champion (shown above). He finished his tailwheel training at Hewison Aviation Flight School in their location at South Albany Airport (4B0). He earned his endorsement on October 20th. Brett is primarily a teacher but enjoys flying as “an expensive hobby.”
He describes aviation as a lifelong dream of his, stemming from his father’s pilot ambitions. Bernhard’s father always said he wanted to be a pilot but he was “never able to do it. Now he’s in his late 70’s and he’s not interested in doing it any longer.” Brett’s dream came true for him because of a ski accident: “I had injured myself skiing, I was in a boot— I was injured and unable to do the sports and other things I liked to do. I found that aviation was a great thing to study and really dive into while I was unable to do a lot of physical work.”
Tailwheel Training
Brett studied for his private pilot certificate with Leaf Air Aviation out of Queensbury NY. After that he was looking for a school to get his tailwheel endorsement. “My ultimate endgame is I really want to build an experimental [airplane]. Whether it goes tailwheel or not remains to be seen but I wanted that to be an option.” Brett interviewed several schools to find the right place to train. He said while searching that Hewison “seemed like more my style” with a “more friendly atmosphere” than others he looked at and decided to take the plunge in June of this year.
Hewison Aviation operates a 1946 Aeronca Champion for its tailwheel training. “The Champ is great. While it’s intimidating when you start, it ends up being a really fun and responsive plane to fly.” said Bernhard when asked about the airplane, “it was always in good condition.”
I asked what the most challenging part of tailwheel training was for Brett: “Crosswinds were challenging. I appreciated that [my instructor] let me find the edge and experiment with what worked and what didn’t.” Hewison was a nice change of pace for Brett, whose previous training was very regimented. “They let me experiment with things, with some tips, and that got me to ultimately what would work.” I asked if tailwheel training would be unfamiliar to a pilot who had only flown tricycle gear airplanes: “It’s like learning to fly again, but it happens a lot quicker because you already know how to fly.”
As for his instructor, Brett felt like he was just flying with a friend. His instruction was “fun, flexible, and professional.” All in all, Brett “can’t say anything but good things about Hewison Aviation.”
Contact Us
You can check out tailwheel training for yourself or a loved one here. If you are looking to get started on an aviation journey, a discovery flight might be the best way to try it out for a low cost and no commitment. Chapter 14 of the Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA) contains an introduction to tailwheel airplanes
Daniel Foster