What taildraggers with retracts exist?

[J Galt]

@Dana do you think your friend would be open to selling the T-6?

As @rv7charlie said, Warbirds are the goal, and the insurance company is telling me I need retract time (and more tailwheel). I have a Super Decathlon but it's not high performance or retract.

Lots of good recommendations here, the Micco would foot the bill, the Super Swift as well. I'm wary of the Micco because of the limited numbers built, also they raised the price on that one from 135k to 150k and it's been for sale since at least Jan '21. That seems odd. There is a nice Super Swift for 100k, maybe worth looking at.

Thank you again everyone,
Justin

 

[Biggles40]

Searey for fun, or Spitfire for something a little more aerobatic.

 

[Dana]

@Dana do you think your friend would be open to selling the T-6?

Doubtful, I think he's still attached to it because it was his father's.

 

[TarDevil]

The Bowers Pony is being sold...

 

[donoraz]

Celerity

This is mine...... Not for the low time pilot.... all three retract.
180 hp but with crossover exhaust is 200 could qualify for hi performance complex.

 

[blane.c]

Twin Bee

 

[blane.c]

Sea Bee also.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

180 hp but with crossover exhaust is 200 could qualify for hi performance complex.

Some fudging may be in order because the reg says an engine of >200hp.

 

[Pops]

Some fudging may be in order because the reg says an engine of >200hp.

That 200 was a typing error. He really hit the 1 key instead of the 0. Got mixed up on which little finger to use.

Added-- or maybe I said that backwards.

 

[Derswede]

Mooney Mite...mini-retractable.

Derswede

Oops, not a taildragger....sorry!

 

[Lois]

M-18 is also only 65 hp as original. My Mooney M-12 (Culver Cadet) is a conventional retract (well, the two mains anyway) but while tons of fun is only 75 hp.

Landing gear is manually retracted. Trim the plane for best climb then trap the stick between 'yer knees. Then, see the wheel between the sticks. Lifting the knob behind the wheel releases a ratchet and the wheel winds the cable to unlock and retract the gear. The gear wells extend into the fuselage. When the wheels are up you can see them through the little windows just outboard of each stick (you can see the right one). Down is easier, release the ratchet and it comes almost all the way down by gravity, just a couple pulls to lock it in place.

Franklin powered 14 series "Cardboard Connie" Bellancas are manual retracts. A bit easier 'cause they use a lever and they're over 100 hp.

 

[J Galt]

@TarDevil I heard a rumor it was in the 500k range, do you know the price? I've been following the testing. Unfortunately my insurance guy said that the underwriters are taking a dim view of "auto" engines. These recent high profile crashes have really hurt our access to insurance is what I'm hearing.

That Celerity is cool, the Seabee as well. I'll do some research on those as well. Not much in my area of Idaho for big lakes but the Snake River would probably work.

Maybe we need to start a Wiki page with this list. It's pretty extensive.
Thank you again everyone,
Justin

 

[cluttonfred]

Among homebuilts you might look for one of the Jurca two-seaters (Sirocco, Sperocco, Autan, Biso) that are often retractable and powerful. They are all wood and aerobatic. Here is an example of a nice retractable Sirocco.

 

[TarDevil]

I heard a rumor it was in the 500k range, do you know the price?

Sure don't, but if I spent 20+ years building a Stewart it wouldn't go cheap.
Somewhere in this forum I saw a comment from a S51 pilot also with stick time in P51's who said the two planes flew the same. Unfortunately, they don't sound the same!

 

[964SS]

Culver Cadet

 

[BJC]

Among homebuilts you might look for one of the Jurca two-seaters (Sirocco, Sperocco, Autan, Biso) that are often retractable and powerful. They are all wood and aerobatic. Here is an example of a nice retractable Sirocco.

View attachment 120997

Every time I see one of those, I wonder about the feel of the rudder and its sensitivity. Anyone here flown one?


BJC

 

[Tiger Tim]

Every time I see one of those, I wonder about the feel of the rudder and its sensitivity. Anyone here flown one?

I haven’t, but I used to know a retired engineer who flew one for years. He had mentioned once that the rudder had a large adverse rolling moment that matched up surprisingly well to crosswind landings. IIRC he said you could crab all the way down final then kick it straight in the flare and it would leave you with just the right amount of slip. I have no idea if it served any useful purpose beyond that, or if it was even remotely intentional on Jurca’s part.

 

[cluttonfred]

Our own Battler Britton has owned and flown (not sure if about built) at least three Jurca MJ-2 Tempête single-seaters but I don't know about the two-seaters. Those tall rudders were only used on the Sirocco and Autan as I remember but there were quite a few of them built so I don't think there was any major handling issue.

 

[karmarepair]

Another homebuilt of this configuration Cvjetkovic Aircraft
I used to see an ad for them in the back of "Air Progress" 50 years ago. Designed about the same time at the T-18, for the same reason, use the then readily available GPU engines. I've never seen one in person, but there were TWO for sale on Barnstormers recently.

 

[the1pope]

Here's the only surviving example of this type of taildragger with retracts. The Burnelli CBY-3 just put on display in late 2020 at the New England Air Museum in Connecticut after a long 8 plus year restoration. Here's a good shot. Check out Canada's CBY-3