SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/comm-tailwheel

What must you have before acting as pilot in command of a tailwheel airplane?

Tailwheel training and a logbook endorsement from an instructor.

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  1. Logged tailwheel flight training and an instructor logbook endorsement ✔
  2. A tailwheel type rating
  3. A commercial certificate with a tailwheel rating

Why: No special rating is issued for tailwheel. Section 61.31(i) requires flight training in a tailwheel airplane and an endorsement from an authorized instructor. Pilots who logged tailwheel PIC time before April 15, 1991 are exempt.

Huh, didn't know that: Training includes crosswind takeoffs and landings, wheel landings, and go-arounds.

The dad joke
What do you get if you cross a snake and a plane? A Boeing Constrictor.
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References

Answer: Logged tailwheel flight training and an instructor logbook endorsement. No special rating is issued for tailwheel. Section 61.31(i) requires flight training in a tailwheel airplane and an endorsement from an authorized instructor. Pilots who logged tailwheel PIC time before April 15, 1991 are exempt.

  1. 14 CFR 61.31 Type rating requirements, additional training, and authorization requirements (Cornell LII eCFR mirror) www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/61.31
    no person may act as pilot in command of a tailwheel airplane unless that person has received and logged flight training
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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FlyingHow often is the training and logbook endorsement for flying a complex airplane required?FlyingBefore the commercial knowledge test you need a logbook endorsement from whom?FlyingHow many hours of training in a complex, turbine or technically advanced airplane does a single-engine applicant need?

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