Definition
Airplanes equipped with a landing gear arrangement consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a single small wheel or skid at the tail, commonly called tailwheel airplanes or taildraggers.
Plain English
An airplane that sits with its nose tilted up on the ground because it has two big wheels at the front and one small wheel under the tail, instead of a wheel under the nose.
Context Anchor
Seen when studying ground handling, takeoffs, and landings in airplanes with the small wheel at the tail.
Derivation
Called 'conventional' because the tailwheel layout was the standard, or conventional, design on most airplanes built before the 1950s. The name stuck even after nosewheel airplanes became more common.
Why Pilots Care
These airplanes demand specific takeoff and landing skills because the center of gravity sits behind the main wheels, increasing the risk of a ground loop if directional control is lost.
Intuition Check
“Conventional” does not mean “the most common airplane today.” Here it means the older, tailwheel-style landing gear arrangement.
Example Sentence 1
Before flying the Piper Cub solo, the student completed tailwheel training because conventional-gear airplanes require an endorsement.
Example Sentence 2
Many older training aircraft such as the Piper Cub are conventional-gear airplanes.