Comparison of landing gear configuration

Tail wheel

Advantages: low cost, low aerodynamics drag. Reduced take off distance from soft fields. Easy attachment to fuselage or wing. High angle of attack for landing resulting in increased aero drag and thus less braking requirement. Better adapted for rough fields. Light weight of tail wheel due to relatively low ground loads. Simple steering mechanism.

Disadvantages: Ground control is more difficult. Directionally unstable. Ground loop is possible. Reduces pilot forward visibility. Steep cockpit angle. Poor directional control with stron crosswinds. Propeller could contact ground or aircraft nose over as a result of heavy braking. High angle of attack mat cause airplane ballooning or bouncing. Slow acceleration on takeoff due to high angle of attack.

NOSE WHEEL

Advantages: Directionally stable. Cockpit floor angle closer to horizontal. Braking on main wheel cannot cause nose over. Less bouncing. Good acceleration on takeoff due to low angle. Less danger of ground loop.

Disadvantages: higher dynamic ground loads results in heavy nose wheel compared to tail wheel. Aerodynamic drag of fixed gear is higher because the gear is submerged in propeller slipstream. Steering mechanism is more complex. Higher cost. Nose wheel retraction is more complex due to limited space. Low angle of attack on wing results in low drag. Heavy braking may results in skidding. Nose wheel shimmy is more likely.