So far this discussion hasn't mentioned insurance. If you are not tailwheel endorsed, you're going to have to spend some money to get that way, and then may have trouble getting hull insurance at all until you have something like 50 hours of tailtragger time.
And there's no question that the tri-gear is easier to takeoff and land. But I keep hearing that taildraggers make you a better pilot, and that's what I want to be. I'm building a taildragger, but I don't find the tri-gear ugly. I sure wouldn't call Bobby Muses's plane ugly. Tri-gear makes it look like a more substantial "real" airplane, in my opinion. And the number one reason NOT to use retracts is that you can't possibly forget to put the gear down if it's fixed! Mark Langford, Huntsville, AL N56ML "at" hiwaay.net see KR2S project at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford
