World's Newest Tow Pilot

drunkenbeagle

drunkenbeagle

Gang Member
As per the insurance companies wishes, I did my 10 landings and 3 simulated glider tows in the Pawnee today. Despite my fears, the Pawnee is a pretty docile aircraft. All 10 were wheel landings, about half were greasers. The other half had a gentle bounce, but I'll stress gentle, it settles down nice and smooth, the "bounce" was only a few inches. 60 mph is definitely where it likes to set down. Any faster, you'll float a bit to burn off the speed - which is easy enough to deal with. Checking out in a single-pilot aircraft is always a test of nerves the first few times up.

So now, onto towing actual gliders. I'm going to try and make sure at least the first 20 are with CFI-G's behind me, student glider pilots can do some bad things to towplanes. (Okay, this is the real world - I'll be happy if I get 5. More would be nice though.)

For the record, I'm glad I have the glider rating first. Good to know all the ways a glider pilot can try to ruin your whole day.

Any questions about it, feel free to ask. I've been picking the brains of other far more experienced tow pilots for some time now :)
 
Good to hear. Just be careful out there and don't let anyone push you to do something you shouldn't be doing. Oh and have fun. You're gonna remember these days for the rest of your life. ;)
 
Douglas said:
Cool, congrats!

How many tail wheel hours did your insurance company require you to have?
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You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But here goes, 2.6. Which is 0.2 less than the last guy.
After the 22 kt crosswind high speed taxies, I now have a self imposed 6kt limit that I will do. The CP gives us complete authority to choose runways and decide when to call off. If I don't like what I see, I will.

The pawnee is seriously easy to land. If you see any trouble, punch the power and you are back in the air in 1 second. Keeping your head on a swivel is the hard part. It is a busy field.

The gliders are more fun to fly, I'm just doing my part for the club.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
I'm glad I have the glider rating first. Good to know all the ways a glider pilot can try to ruin your whole day.
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Rest assured they will find ways you never would have dreamed of.
---- Turn left off tow because they decided there is a thermal on that side.
---- Lose control while still on the ground and drag you around in a circle
---- Overrun you when you abort a takeoff
---- Pass you while on tow following some kind of crack-the-whip maneuver
---- Get tangled in the tow rope following a major slack event
---- Zoom climb like a winch launch upon leaving the ground (that has been the cause of a few fatals)
---- Land on you while you are on the ground.


On the plus side, landing with that rope attached substantially decreases the potential for a ground loop. It is no guarantee, but it works in your favor.


Lastly, I'm sure you know this, but in the excitement of the moment, we sometimes forget. There is a long, dangerous rope hanging off the back of that airplane. It can and has smacked people, vehicles, and other things that should not have been smacked. It can and has wrapped around telephone poles, wires, fences, or anything else that it can find.


I hope you have a lot of fun. It really is neat to be an important part of a group of aviators who are all gathered together to just have fun.
 
I kept one hand on the stick and the other next to the tow release to reinforce the habit. As a glider pilot, I know it is my job to pull the release if I do something stupid. I also know the tow pilot may at any moment. But yeah, the glider is on his own if I get into trouble. It is a long runway and he can put down straight ahead.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But here goes, 2.6. Which is 0.2 less than the last guy.
After the 22 kt crosswind high speed taxies, I now have a self imposed 6kt limit that I will do. The CP gives us complete authority to choose runways and decide when to call off. If I don't like what I see, I will.

The pawnee is seriously easy to land. If you see any trouble, punch the power and you are back in the air in 1 second. Keeping your head on a swivel is the hard part. It is a busy field.

The gliders are more fun to fly, I'm just doing my part for the club.
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You lucky duck!

My glider club, it takes 100 hours of tail wheel to fly the Pawnee.

I'm gone find a way to get tail wheel time, some where!
 
Same here our requries 100 as well. Find a guy who owns a tailwheel and become best friends. Thats how I did it.
 
Jbroz04 said:
Same here our requries 100 as well. Find a guy who owns a tailwheel and become best friends. Thats how I did it.
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When I asked 6 months ago, that's what I was told. Then we needed tow pilots, and one of our CFI-G's got checked out with less than 3 hours. So I asked again, and it turned out that 200 TT ASEL was the real minimum.

Agreed that the tow release on the floor is a bad place. Because you'll probably have full back stick when you need it.
 
i'm new to jc, but enjoyed reading all the posts on glider towing. it brought back a lot of fond memories. in the mid 60's i too towed gliders for a club at harvey young airport in tulsa okla. we had a stearman and an old stinson L-5 that was modified with a jacobs 220hp radial. it was one of the best times i've had flying airplanes. i hope drunkenbeagle enjoys it as much as i did.
 
nightflier said:
i hope drunkenbeagle enjoys it as much as i did.
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The beagle is having a blast. Never something I planned on doing, but certainly fun.

There aren't a ton of things you can doing in aviation part time, but glider rides and towing are awesome. I'm sure I'll enjoy being a CFI too, but not really in a hurry to get into that yet.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Agreed that the tow release on the floor is a bad place. Because you'll probably have full back stick when you need it.
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Ah, the tow release was on the floor in all the banner planes I flew. Getting a hand on it was never an issue. I'd be more concerned about the tow release itself. In a glider runaway climb situation, i.e. with the tow rope pulling up instead of back, most tow releases won't open no matter what you do or where you put the handle. I'm sure they covered all that with you during your training though.
 
I'm gonna have to ride over there with you sometime and check it out for an afternoon. Once the holiday stuff is over, hit me up man. Will take my camera out and snap some photos of ya.
 
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