the most difficult plane to fly?

[Alan_A]

I think what he means by difficult to fly could be from the rear seat maybe?

I think what he's saying is that, as a mainly-GA guy whose previous warbird and formation experience was in Chipmunks, he's finding the T-6 is a bit more to take on - bigger, heavier, and of course it's got a reputation, even if that's not justified.

After a few more hours, he'll probably wind up agreeing with you.

[DHenriques_]

I don't thin it is. if this is modeled after the real thing which I think it is the T-6 is not that hard to fly at all. I have 3 hours on my virtual T-6 and love the thing. I even got to do some aerobatics with it. I think what he means by difficult to fly could be from the rear seat maybe? now that I could see being difficult. but from the front not s much. cause from what I have read the WW2 pilots loved it to cause it's forgiving. and nice to fly.

Two things ))
1. Flying the 6 from the back seat can be challenging. Doing that is a must for someone checking out in a prop fighter like a Mustang. It's very demanding on landing if giving dual due to the restricted visibility and the fact that if a rudder correction is required by the instructor that has to be done VERY quickly and without any lag.
2. The 6 is NOT forgiving. In fact it was designed specifically NOT to be forgiving. It has to be flown correctly. However, IF flown correctly, it is a stable and fun airplane to fly. It handles well. It just doesn't suffer fools gladly and will bite hard if mishandled in any way.
Dudley Henriques

[cessna lover]

I don't thin it is. if this is modeled after the real thing which I think it is the T-6 is not that hard to fly at all. I have 3 hours on my virtual T-6 and love the thing. I even got to do some aerobatics with it. I think what he means by difficult to fly could be from the rear seat maybe? now that I could see being difficult. but from the front not s much. cause from what I have read the WW2 pilots loved it to cause it's forgiving. and nice to fly.

Two things ))
1. Flying the 6 from the back seat can be challenging. Doing that is a must for someone checking out in a prop fighter like a Mustang. It's very demanding on landing if giving dual due to the restricted visibility and the fact that if a rudder correction is required by the instructor that has to be done VERY quickly and without any lag.
2. The 6 is NOT forgiving. In fact it was designed specifically NOT to be forgiving. It has to be flown correctly. However, IF flown correctly, it is a stable and fun airplane to fly. It handles well. It just doesn't suffer fools gladly and will bite hard if mishandled in any way.
Dudley Henriques

I did not know about point #2 but won't any advanced airplane like the 6 high performance or not bite if mishandled?

[DHenriques_]

I don't thin it is. if this is modeled after the real thing which I think it is the T-6 is not that hard to fly at all. I have 3 hours on my virtual T-6 and love the thing. I even got to do some aerobatics with it. I think what he means by difficult to fly could be from the rear seat maybe? now that I could see being difficult. but from the front not s much. cause from what I have read the WW2 pilots loved it to cause it's forgiving. and nice to fly.

Two things ))
1. Flying the 6 from the back seat can be challenging. Doing that is a must for someone checking out in a prop fighter like a Mustang. It's very demanding on landing if giving dual due to the restricted visibility and the fact that if a rudder correction is required by the instructor that has to be done VERY quickly and without any lag.
2. The 6 is NOT forgiving. In fact it was designed specifically NOT to be forgiving. It has to be flown correctly. However, IF flown correctly, it is a stable and fun airplane to fly. It handles well. It just doesn't suffer fools gladly and will bite hard if mishandled in any way.
Dudley Henriques

I did not know about point #2 but won't any advanced airplane like the 6 high performance or not bite if mishandled?

Yes, with a caveat. High performance airplanes require high performance pilots. What sets the T6 apart is simply that it's landing gear is so close coupled. This along with it's weight and fuselage length give the T6 great potential for yaw excursion on landings.
Where say the Mustang with its wide main gear spread will tend to track straight and true after touchdown, the T6 can and often is quite sensitive in yaw and pilots have to be especially aware of this in how they handle the pedals after touchdown.
Conversely, a Pitts Special requires the same careful treatment on landings. One could say all tail wheel airplanes require this care. Let's just say that if close coupled, one needs to exercise some "extra" care. )
Dudley Henriques

[Medtner]

Yes, with a caveat. High performance airplanes require high performance pilots. What sets the T6 apart is simply that it's landing gear is so close coupled. This along with it's weight and fuselage length give the T6 great potential for yaw excursion on landings.
Where say the Mustang with its wide main gear spread will tend to track straight and true after touchdown, the T6 can and often is quite sensitive in yaw and pilots have to be especially aware of this in how they handle the pedals after touchdown.
Conversely, a Pitts Special requires the same careful treatment on landings. One could say all tail wheel airplanes require this care. Let's just say that if close coupled, one needs to exercise some "extra" care. )
Dudley Henriques

"potential for yaw excursion"

Love that phrasing! It's a polite way of saying "it'll foxtroting ground-loop on you if you don't dance to it's tune!"

[DHenriques_]

Yes, with a caveat. High performance airplanes require high performance pilots. What sets the T6 apart is simply that it's landing gear is so close coupled. This along with it's weight and fuselage length give the T6 great potential for yaw excursion on landings.
Where say the Mustang with its wide main gear spread will tend to track straight and true after touchdown, the T6 can and often is quite sensitive in yaw and pilots have to be especially aware of this in how they handle the pedals after touchdown.
Conversely, a Pitts Special requires the same careful treatment on landings. One could say all tail wheel airplanes require this care. Let's just say that if close coupled, one needs to exercise some "extra" care. )
Dudley Henriques

"potential for yaw excursion"

Love that phrasing! It's a polite way of saying "it'll foxtroting ground-loop on you if you don't dance to it's tune!"

Checking pilots out in the 6 I always imparted this advice.

When landing the T6, on final, plant your heels firmly on the floor of the cockpit and lightly place your feet elevated about 1/2 way up on each rudder pedal. Use your ankles as a fulcrum and activate each pedal by gently pushing forward on it with your toes.
This is the setup you want in place as you flare for the landing. Upon touchdown, focus a sightline straight through the center of the windshield and scan the runway. Naturally you should be carrying any windward aileron necessary for crosswind correction. Aileron for wind is especially important in the T6 as it is the LACK of corrective aileron for crosswind that is the cause of the majority of T6 landing accidents.
Be alert for the SLIGHTEST movement of the nose left or right and use YOUR TOES on the pedals to correct. Because of the close gear coupling the nose will trend toward wandering quite quickly and you should be ready to apply small and very quick corrective action on each pedal as required. In the T6 you can NOT wait to correct as the speed of the nose wandering off centerline will be almost exponential increasing in speed as the angle from dead center increases. In other words, correction needs to me made NOW not later !
Done correctly, the weight on your heels should never leave the floor and your feet should almost always be in motion, very tiny corrections rotating on your ankles only.
THIS is how you land a T6. If you have pedals in the sim, the same thing applies, or as close to it as possible.
You fly high performance airplanes with fingers and toes............FINGERS AND TOES !
Dudley Henriques

[cessna lover]

well another tip I learned is after touching down in the 6 is to hold the tail up as long as possible. the when the tail wheel touches down she won't get away with you. I have tried this and it works. virtually of course. I use aerodynamic breaking before I use the breaks. and it seems to do ok.

[DHenriques_]

well another tip I learned is after touching down in the 6 is to hold the tail up as long as possible. the when the tail wheel touches down she won't get away with you. I have tried this and it works. virtually of course. I use aerodynamic breaking before I use the breaks. and it seems to do ok.

LOL )))))))))))

Just be aware...............in the real T6, the moment when the tail comes down after a landing on the mains is the exact instant the T6 is its most dangerous. It's exactly that instant when you have to be literally "on your toes" and ready for any nose diversion from the center line. What is happening here is that the entire mass of the plane is transitioning from its balance on two points down onto a new position based on a triangle of 3 points. Everything at this moment is in a state of change while in motion. Weight, and especially the arm of the aircraft are changing. As all this mass settles in the aircraft will "adjust" to its new stance on 3 wheels and there will be forces in flux as all these changes take place.
As an instructor in the T6 I actually made a point of making sure pilots I checked out in the 6 TOTALLY understood what I have said above.

Naturally in the sim it might be a bit different as wind and controller mechanics and sensitivities are involved. But make no mistake, be careful. It's just that one time you begin to feel comfortable in the T6 when it has this nasty habit of turning things around and biting off your head. LOL
Dudley Henriques

[Skywagon]

Dudley, I made screenshots of your instructions for note taking later. Good information to memorize. Last summer I was lucky enough to get about 3.5 hours dual in the rear of a Harvard. On the first flight he let me land and although I kept it straight down the runway (I had “decent” forward visibility as he had dropped his seat down) he had to take control as I didn’t apply enough braking on the rollout. The strip was 3000ft long and he told me the old brakes of the vastly original airframe needed some of that extra attention you mentioned.
On a shorter strip such as that what would you suggest as far as adjustments made to the pattern and on final etc?

The pilot was able to land at our 2700x25ft private strip no problem which impressed me even more after I made a couple attempts to bring it in on the 3000 with great difficultly.




A couple shots from the day. It’s hands down my favourite plane to fly. Couldn’t believe how light and responsive it was. I have issues with claustrophobia and as soon as I pulled the canopy shut and clicked the seatbelt on they came to the surface. As soon as I took control though they disappeared and the plane truly feels like it is an extension of yourself. Very little effort seemed to go into flying it. Was one of the most memorable and pleasurable experiences I have had. I hope this year to finish a solo check out if the stars align.

[DHenriques_]

Dudley, I made screenshots of your instructions for note taking later. Good information to memorize. Last summer I was lucky enough to get about 3.5 hours dual in the rear of a Harvard. On the first flight he let me land and although I kept it straight down the runway (I had “decent” forward visibility as he had dropped his seat down) he had to take control as I didn’t apply enough braking on the rollout. The strip was 3000ft long and he told me the old brakes of the vastly original airframe needed some of that extra attention you mentioned.
On a shorter strip such as that what would you suggest as far as adjustments made to the pattern and on final etc?

The pilot was able to land at our 2700x25ft private strip no problem which impressed me even more after I made a couple attempts to bring it in on the 3000 with great difficultly.




A couple shots from the day. It’s hands down my favourite plane to fly. Couldn’t believe how light and responsive it was. I have issues with claustrophobia and as soon as I pulled the canopy shut and clicked the seatbelt on they came to the surface. As soon as I took control though they disappeared and the plane truly feels like it is an extension of yourself. Very little effort seemed to go into flying it. Was one of the most memorable and pleasurable experiences I have had. I hope this year to finish a solo check out if the stars align.

Glad you enjoyed flying the old girl.

Brakes on landing in the T6 are an issue requiring a bit of practice. Generally speaking you want to use as little brake as possible when landing ANY airplane. The T6 naturally is high on the list of planes where misuse of brakes can get you in a world of trouble quickly.
It's all in the technique really. In the 6 your speed at touchdown is usually sufficient to allow rudder correction without braking.
As the speed comes down on the rollout the rudder becomes less effective and SOME braking might be necessary but it has to be done VERY carefully. Usually this amounts to small "taps" on each side to "help" with the rudder correction. You should never "hard brake" a T6 on landing unless you have lost it and doing that is a last ditch effort to save a ground loop. Just be aware that if it has gone that far braking probably won't save it anyway.
Short field landings in the 6 should be well within a 2500ft limit. I've put a light weight Mustang down in 2500 feet.
Just fly the approach normally, 3 point it on, keep the stick back, leave the flaps down, and CAREFULLY use as little braking as possible.
Dudley Henriques

[cessna lover]

well i'm pretty good at landing the simulator I have yet to get the coveted 3 pointer. that eludes me big time.

[DHenriques_]

well i'm pretty good at landing the simulator I have yet to get the coveted 3 pointer. that eludes me big time.

Practice, practice, practice. ))))))))))

[cessna lover]

I have done so much practice I need new tires now.

[Paughco]

Guys: Here is an interesting discussion on landing the T-6, "Ground Loop Prevention A Cautionary Tale," at https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... 0Cn1u3DvfE. Hopefully the link will work, or you can just Google "Ground Loop Prevention A Cautionary Tale."

Seeya
ATB

[cessna lover]

Guys: Here is an interesting discussion on landing the T-6, "Ground Loop Prevention A Cautionary Tale," at https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... 0Cn1u3DvfE. Hopefully the link will work, or you can just Google "Ground Loop Prevention A Cautionary Tale."

Seeya
ATB

it works for me sir. I'm reading it now.