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I started flying a C150 locally for 2hrs and transitioned to the C172 and soloed after 5hrs. I have been researching taildraggers for about 18months prior to starting my PPL and recently purchased a1980 Maule m5 235, recovered and refurbished in 09. The Maule, because of the 4 seats to take family and 235 mainly because from my research the upshot was,"You can never have to much power,"especially with the short wing.
The trouble is there are no schools locally who teach in taildraggers or have Maule experience. I found a school in Sydney that teach in taildraggers (Citabrias 7GCBCs) and have a lot of Maule experience, but and a big but, is that it is around a 1000ks away. So every couple of weeks I will fly down in a commercial jet and spend a week with them,until I can fly her home, the Maule is kept in their hangar. At this point I have 5 hrs in a Citabria and a couple in my Maule, she was still undergoing the fresh annual, for the sale, when I arrived. Initially I was nervous about flying the Maule, from what I had read, but after the experience in the Citabrias plus the input from my crusty old Maule instructor, she feels very nice and I like the fact that you really need to switch on as a pilot, must be that adrenaline thing
I have found that the stories and pics/vids from this web site and the Maule web site to be inspiring and informative from a skill, experience angle. The fact that I can access so much personal experience with a click of the mouse still amazes me, and it's with this in mind that I thought I would log my journey from beginning to beginning. Next week I head down again with the aim to solo in the Maule and start some navexs. There are pics of her in my gallery, "Pigs do fly."
All the best John
Still can't say I've greased any on, just some bounce a little less than others, but I am having a ball learning to find that zen 
moment in the Maule. Having just one up in her the takeoffs are very quick and she just feels nicer, and the bounce is a little less on landing, still working hard on getting them as smooth as possible with a little power but it's tricky, practice practice practice. The instructor has advised me that we'll do some circuits at a heavier weight, so I can feel the difference. Just getting him out made an impact on handling so getting some extra weight in will be interesting to feel. As of now I have 3 hrs solo, the next time I head down in two weeks I have a 3 1/2hr exam, then will be starting my navexs, seven in all with two solo then the PPL flight. I expect all of it will take a couple of weeks. Looking forward to the time I jet down and Maule home. I forgot to take the wifes camera down this time, so the instructor is going to email me the solo hand shake pic.
