I did that a few times for students that having some difficulty figuring out what straight-ahead was. Did it on the 172s and Champ. Just one long strip. Seemed to help considerably. But don't leave that tape there too long or it won't come off without leaving a mess or taking some paint with it. Engine heat after shutdown soon cooks it on there.
nice... anyway, I used high quality marine white tape it is designed for extremely hot surfaces and it will peel off as soon as I figure out where straight ahead is... I tested the tape after 2 flights, comes right up...
Yes, it gets interesting if you touch down a little too firmly. One trick you can use is to bank slightly just as you are about to touch down so that one wheel touches first; if it's a bit firm, the gear will dissipate much of the energy by rolling the airplane level instead of bouncing it back up.
I would keep at it. If you let it go for several years you'll be starting all over again. Gusting to 15 in a 140 would be an awful challenge for a newbie. Don't let it stop your progress.
Spot on. You can finish the endorsement now and then just get a checkout in a specific plane down the road. And there may come a day when you are low on fuel in a trike, facing a 20G35 direct crosswind. Having once struggled through and survived crosswind training in a 140 will greatly improve your chances of making a safe landing in the stronger winds without exhausting your fuel.
If one can't get a taildragger to fly aligned with the runway, the crosswind is too strong for it. Rudder authority diminishes as airspeed drops, and if the rudder is against the stop in the rollout, control is dangerously marginal. Been there, done that, even in heavier taildraggers.
If you don't have the rudder authority to get it straight on short final, you don't have the rudder authority to keep it straight after touchdown. Kicking it straight will just result in drifting sideways across the runway as you touch down. It's no better than landing in a crab, and taildraggers bite real hard if you do that. If I couldn't keep it aligned with the runway in a slip on very short final, I went around. More than once I just landed into the wind in the field next to the runway. If the wind is that strong you don't need the distance.
Yup. I used to do wheel landings in the crosswinds, though. It kept the wing at a lower AoA while I got the thing slowed down, and allowed more brake authority on the upwind wheel. Some airplanes don't care for three-point landings, especially if the CG is forward and they're light. I found the 180 and 185 like that. The stab on those is close to the surface, which causes some ground effect on it and you can run out of up-elevator authority.
I know. You have to use all the controls, even the throttle at times. And sometimes you have to dump the flaps to get rid of lift.
Was attempting to slip from about mid-final on - was crabbed initially (as that seems easier) - for a few moments, things would be lined up, but then a gust / turbulence / something would throw everything way off. Was not pretty. Don't recall running out of rudder, as the 140 rudder seems very effective. Never got close enough to the ground to decide between 3-point or wheelie.
Landing type (3pt or wheel) should be decided before you get anywhere near final IMO.
Yup. Most wheel landings aren't with the tail way up, anyway. That takes far too much speed and just lengthens the landing roll unreasonably. Best wheel landing is with with the tail just off the runway a few inches, and raising the tail a bit on touchdown to reduce the lift and gain some traction. It's also a lot easier on that tiny tailwheel.
True you can. Doesn't mean you should IMO. Especially if you're low on tailwheel time.
In Canada during WW2, the Commonwealth Air Training Plan built triangular airfields all across the Canadian prairies and in some other provinces as well. Traces of these can still be seen, and some are still airports, though often only one of the runways is maintained, the one most closely aligned with the prevailing winds. Those students were learning to fly Tiger Moths, Harvards and Yales, Avro Ansons, Lancasters and other bombers, Hurricanes, Spitfires, P-51s, Lysanders. Taildraggers all.
I think what JH was trying to say is that you generally shouldn't change your plan while you are on final. Which is very different from doing a 3-point in response to a bounced wheel landing.