Our club operates at 1350 ft AMSL on a grass strip in hot Australain weather
(
www.ddsc.org.au ). It has a Pawnee and a Cessna 182 as tow planes and a
huge range of gliders from two seater to Nimbus 4DM.
I will take both tugs on most days in my Nimbus 2C, but with a soft strip
and water aboard, the Cessna is not marvelous.
The slow acceleration at the start means more chance to drop a wing. The
need to get the speeds higher before climb out means the height over the
fence is a lot lower.
Once in the air not too much difference to me, but vision in the high wing
Cessna must be a pain and a danger.
I have had a tow behind the Kingaroy Cessna 152 (I think) with an autoengine
and it was spectacular good. Not sure if this is aavilable in the US. In New
Zealand I had a tow by a Pawnee 235 with a four bladded prop which was quick
and quiet (residential areas)
My vote form +30 years and lots of tows is a crop duster type like the
Pawnee with lots of horsepower.
Robert Percy