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Old January 26th 04, 12:01 PM
robert
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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