Who can tow gliders?

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Inverted25

Inverted25

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So I recently decided to join a soaring club because it looks fun and is close to my house. Plus its another rating to add to the list. But here is my question. This club is a non commercial non profit club OK. Most of the tow pilots are only PPL guys with alot of tail wheel time. Is this legal since they aren't being paid and the club is non profit? I know theres probably a answer to this somewhere I just am too tired to look it up. My question I guess falls isn't the free flight time flying the Pawnee compensation as far as the FAA is concerned?
 
well, and im hoping to get a second here as im not sure, but you said this is a club, right? are there dues? and besides, if your buddy lets you, as a PP, fly his plane one day for fun, how is that not legit? isnt that the same thing? :dunno:
 
Try 61.69 for the glider towing regs.


I don't even want to get into the free flight time discussion again. Go soaring and have fun.
 
dues are 600 buy in and 125 quartely so I guess that could be considered pro rated and there is also a per tow fee. But the dues get you unlimited access to the 5 gliders and instructors are free for members. I was just curious about the towing sceniro because they want me to tow also since I have tailwheel time as well but I have a CSEL so I didnt know if they asked simply because the way there were doing it before was illegal.
 
Jbroz04 said:
So I recently decided to join a soaring club because it looks fun and is close to my house. Plus its another rating to add to the list. But here is my question. This club is a non commercial non profit club OK. Most of the tow pilots are only PPL guys with alot of tail wheel time. Is this legal since they aren't being paid and the club is non profit? I know theres probably a answer to this somewhere I just am too tired to look it up. My question I guess falls isn't the free flight time flying the Pawnee compensation as far as the FAA is concerned?
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Don't work for free...
 
James dont worry I have no interest in flying the Pawnee haha. And they only open on weekends so I'm not gonna spend the weekend flying gliders for free I have better things to do. I was just curious how legit it was. Plus theres like 5 guys there already who fight over the free pawnee time anyways and they are all old timers. I'm not getting into that battle.
 
Now given the guy flying the pawnee all have somewhere in the range of 500-1000 hours of tailwheel time. I dont know how much they had when they started but they are had a ton of tailwheel time so I'm not saying safety is a factor. But it does say that a PPL can tow a glider with the proper training and endorsments so the FAA is ok with this.
 
Jbroz04 said:
Now given the guy flying the pawnee all have somewhere in the range of 500-1000 hours of tailwheel time. I dont know how much they had when they started but they are had a ton of tailwheel time so I'm not saying safety is a factor. But it does say that a PPL can tow a glider with the proper training and endorsments so the FAA is ok with this.
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Most club require 50 hrs (tailwheel) min to start towing.
 
§ 61.69 Glider and unpowered ultralight vehicle towing: Experience and training requirements.
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(a) No person may act as pilot in command for towing a glider or unpowered ultralight vehicle unless that person—
(1) Holds at least a private pilot certificate with a category rating for powered aircraft;
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61.69 Says you only need a private certificate. So long as its a not for profit such as in a club type situation, no commercial cert is required for the operation. IOW, if its the Greater East Gabip Soaring Club which owns the planes and gliders and all are flown exclusively by members, a private is all you need. If its Hanks Glider Towing Service and Hank owns the tow planes and tows for anyone who will pay his tow fees, then you need a commercial cert.
 
If I remember right they use a cessna 150 with a 200hp engine in it at 3g3 or some variation of that. Its a smaller cessna tri gear with a bigger engine in it for towing.
 
Jbroz04 said:
If I remember right they use a cessna 150 with a 200hp engine in it at 3g3 or some variation of that. Its a smaller cessna tri gear with a bigger engine in it for towing.
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Yeah the fool at 3G3 wanted me to pay to join the club, pay for my checkout, and then fly for free.

Towing gliders is a commercial pilot job. Something you should get paid for. Don't do it for free, i.e. if you have only a private pilot's license don't do it, and if you have a CSEL make sure you are getting paid for it.
 
jhugz said:
Towing gliders is a commercial pilot job.
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It could be, but according to FAR 61.69 it isn't. Are you suggesting the rule be changed?

Just curious, but are you a glider pilot too? I ask because our local glider club would be severely hurt if they had to pay a pilot $20-50/hour on top of other fees for a tow. As it is, they use fellow club members who take turns giving each other tows. Some are indeed COM-SEL (and ATP-MEL), but they are there for fun, not time-building in a Pawnee.
 
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