and the Nene powered version of the Vickers VC.1 Viking. Outside of the United States – where the tricycle undercarriage had solidly begun to take root with its aircraft firms before that nation's World War II involvement at the end of 1941 – the Heinkel firm in World War II Germany began building airframe designs meant to use tricycle undercarriage systems from their beginnings, as early as late 1939 with the Heinkel He 280 pioneering jet fighter demonstrator series, and the unexpectedly successful Heinkel He 219 twin-engined night fighter of 1942 origin. The taildragger configuration has its own advantages, and is arguably more suited to rougher landing strips. The tailwheel makes the plane sit naturally in a nose-up attitude when on the ground, which is useful for operations on unpaved gravel surfaces where debris could damage the propeller. The tailwheel also transmits loads to the airframe in a way much less likely to cause airframe damage when operating on rough fields. The small tailwheel is much lighter and much less vulnerable than a nosewheel. Also, a fixed-gear taildragger exhibits less interference drag and form drag in flight than a fixed-gear tricycle aircraft whose nosewheel may sit directly in the propeller's slipstream. Tailwheels are smaller and cheaper to buy and to maintain. Most tailwheel aircraft are lower in overall height and thus may fit in lower hangars. Tailwheel aircraft are also more suitable for fitting with skis in wintertime. References Aircraft undercarriage Aircraft configurations