Average time for tailwheel endorsement?

Around 8 - 10 hours for a thorough checkout to the point where YOU are flying the airplane instead of the other way around.

When I was instructing in a Taylorcraft F-19, Cessna and Cherokee pilots would want a tailwheel checkout "this Saturday"... I wouldn't say anything, but would let their ham handed habits let them know that it was going to take more than a day... The average time for these pilots was around 10 hours. It was interesting that I could take one of my T-craft students and check them out in a Cessna or Piper in about three to four hours, most of the time being spent in learning how to handle the flaps.

While normal takeoffs and landings can be done in a couple of hours, short and soft field takeoffs and landings are different, and crosswinds are a real challenge, as are operations without flaps.

It's a great thing to do, as I believe it makes you a better pilot. You can get away with habits in a tricycle gear airplane that will get you in trouble in a taildragger. As an example, most pilots' brains goes into an "auto mode" when they begin the flare in a tricycle gear airplane, which is when you need to be most aware in a taildragger...

Some people pick it up quite easily and some people never really get a good handle on flying conventional gear aircraft. With a good instructor, a sharp student may only require a few hours of dual instruction, but I know of one guy - a doctor - who at 25 hours was finally signed off and wrecked the plane on his second solo flight (not my student, but I bought the wrecked plane). However, if you plan on renting or buying a tailwheel airplane, you'll want to fly enough to meet the insurance requirements, which can be as high as 25 hours in tailwheel aircraft.

One other thing, the time it takes often depends on where you are going to do your checkout. At busy airports you might only get in a few landings per hour, while at quiet airport you can easily do 10-12 landings per hour. It's also useful to have a long quiet runway available that will allow you to take off, fly in ground effect, and land several times within its length. In calm air, you can turn around and do it in the other direction if traffic allows. This can be a very effective method of tailwheel training in a short time. Flight time is irrelevant, it is time spent rolling on the runway and transitioning through ground effect that matters.

When I was doing tailwheel training for an FBO the rule was that if you couldn't sign the student off in 8 hours then chief pilot had to ride with them. Basically the idea was that if you can't get someone signed off in 8 hours there is something wrong with the instructor.

It depends on your skill level and how well you learn. Anywhere from 3-10 hours on average.

There is no requirement, depends on how long it takes you to figure it out. I have a friend who is going to give me my endorsement in his Cub. Says it should only take a few hours. It's not that complicated, just relearning landings basically.

IT TOOK ME 6 HOURS IN A CUB

Its up to your instructor, two or three hours tops.