How much does a tailwheel conversion cost in the UK? Prices, hours and the rules
October 30, 2026 · Chris van Eijk
Most private pilots learn on a nosewheel aircraft. To fly a Super Cub, a Citabria, a Chipmunk or a Tiger Moth you need a tailwheel conversion first: differences training with an instructor, signed off in your logbook. We read what UK flight schools and flying clubs publish about it on their own websites, and the rules at the UK CAA and EASA, on 30 October 2026.
Short answer: a tailwheel conversion costs £1,075 to £2,480 as a course at the three UK schools and clubs that publish a course price, for five to eight hours of flying; that is £215 to £310 per hour of the course. Two more publish only an hourly rate, from £155 to 250 an hour. Four of the six that say how long the course takes plan five hours, but no rule sets a minimum: the instructor signs you off when you fly to the standard.
Tailwheel conversion at 7 UK schools and clubs
| School or club | Hours planned | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Air and British Aerobatic AcademyFowlmere · Cessna 140 | 300 minutes engine running | £1,075course |
| West London Aero ClubWhite Waltham · Piper Super Cub | 5 hours dual | £1,315course |
| The Pilot CentreDenham · Citabria | 8 hours | £2,480course |
| The Tiger ClubDamyns Hall · Piper Super Cub | – | from£155per hour |
| Aircraft Differences TrainingHerefordshire · PA18 Super Cub | usually between 3 and 5 hours | 250per hour |
| Andrewsfield | 5 hours | – |
| Sherburn Aero ClubSherburn in Elmet | 5 hours dual | – |
What a tailwheel conversion costs
The cheapest course is at Fowlmere, where Modern Air and the British Aerobatic Academy publish the same course in the same Cessna 140: £1,075 for 300 minutes of engine running time plus theory at the aircraft and briefings. The British Aerobatic Academy adds that the "Price excludes landing fees". West London Aero Club at White Waltham sells a "Tail Wheel Package - 5 Hours dual instruction in a Super Cub" for £1,315 on its 2026 further-training price list, a file the club names "incl Fuel Surcharge"; the list does not say whether the £12-an-hour Cub fuel surcharge it shows on its hire rates is in the package. The Pilot Centre at Denham charges £2,480 for eight hours in a Citabria, which is exactly eight times its £230 hourly rental of the Citabria plus its £80 "Instrument / Night / Tailwheel instructor fee" (our sum; the price list does not break it down).
Two publish an hourly rate instead. The Tiger Club at Damyns Hall teaches in a Piper Super Cub "From only £155 per hour", without saying what the rate includes. Aircraft Differences Training, an instructor based in Herefordshire, flies a PA18 Super Cub at "250 per hour" (the page prints no currency sign) and expects the course to take "usually between 3 and 5 hours depending on experience": at that rate three to five hours come to 750 to 1,250.
Per hour of the course, the three course prices work out at £215 at Fowlmere, £263 at White Waltham and £310 at Denham. For comparison, what UK clubs charge for an hour of self-fly hire in a nosewheel trainer is in how much it costs to rent a plane.
How many hours it takes
Five hours is the usual plan. Andrewsfield lists a "Tailwheel Conversion Course (5 hours)" for which it quotes on request, Sherburn Aero Club's course "consists of 5 hours of dual instruction" and West London Aero Club's package is five hours dual. The Pilot Centre plans eight. Cubair Flight Training at Redhill describes a five-hour course in a Super Cub, but its page adds that "tail wheel differences training is not currently available". In the Netherlands, Special Air Academy's tailwheel syllabus takes 10 hours of flying in a Super Cub, dual and solo, without a published price.
Those are plans, not limits. Goodwood says of its Super Cub course that "there is no minimum hours requirement or final test", and Sherburn that differences training "is not laid down by CAP 804 or Part-FCL but is left to the discretion of the instructor conducting the training", adding that "there is no formal test or check at the end of the training". Budget for more than the package: Sherburn calls its five hours "only a guide" and says "the actual amount of training will very much depend on how each individual performs on the course"; the packages are priced on the hours they name.
What the rules say
In the UK, a tailwheel is one of the features that require differences training within the single-engine piston (SEP) class rating: the CAA lists "Tail-Wheel" next to variable-pitch propellers, retractable undercarriage and turbo- or supercharged engines. "Differences Training must be carried out by an appropriately qualified Type or Class Rating Instructor (TRI/ CRI) or Flight Instructor (FI)." The CAA sets no hours, because "general requirements for training cannot be set", and when the instructor is satisfied the logbook "must be annotated to show successful completion and signed by the instructor who conducted the training".
The training does not run out: "Differences training in aeroplanes within the SEP class rating is valid indefinitely", although the CAA adds that "it is recommended that such re-training be undertaken when the lay-off is more than two years."
EASA says the same in its own words. Its list of class ratings marks "SEP (land) with tail wheels" as needing "differences training in accordance with FCL.710", which for SEP aeroplanes "may be conducted by an appropriately qualified instructor" unless the aircraft's operational suitability data says otherwise, and the training is entered in the logbook and "signed by the instructor or examiner as appropriate". Its LAPL(A) flight syllabus notes that pilots trained on nosewheel aircraft need "dual conversion training before flying tail wheel aeroplanes".
What to check before you book
- The aircraft. A Cessna 140 at £1,075, a Super Cub at £1,315 and a Citabria at £2,480. Modern Air offers "Solo hire our Cessna 140 post course", so pick the aircraft you want to fly afterwards.
- What sits outside the price. The British Aerobatic Academy's price excludes landing fees, and both Fowlmere schools add £25 an hour when you train on an EASA licence; at the Tiger Club the page does not say.
- Hours, not a guaranteed sign-off. The package names a number of hours. Modern Air warns that "Some students may require a little more time to reach our high standards", and that extra time is not in the package price.
- Your rating. A tailwheel aeroplane is in the SEP (land) class, so course hours flown in the 12 months before your rating expires count as hours in the class for SEP revalidation by experience. Modern Air and the British Aerobatic Academy say their course "Can be used as your bi-annual instructor trip"; ask your own instructor before you count on that.
Clubs and schools
West London Aero Club and the Tiger Club are clubs, Sherburn Aero Club calls itself "a flying club and a flight training school", and Goodwood runs its school next to the Goodwood Aero Club; the others are schools or an independent instructor. If you fly at a club, ask whether its tailwheel aircraft is on the members' rate once you are signed off. What a club charges its members per hour is in our flying club cost guide, and instructor rates are in what a flight instructor costs per hour.
Sources
Read on 30 October 2026 on each operator's own website: Modern Air, British Aerobatic Academy, West London Aero Club, The Pilot Centre, The Tiger Club, Aircraft Differences Training, Cubair (course not currently available), Andrewsfield, Sherburn Aero Club (and its price list), Goodwood and Special Air Academy. Rules: the UK CAA's differences training in the SEP class rating and EASA's Easy Access Rules for Aircrew (revision October 2026: GM1 FCL.700, FCL.710 and the LAPL(A) flight syllabus in Subpart B).