"Pete Brown" wrote in message
...
Vaughn:

I agree that tow pilots must have a much higher degree of
competency and experience

Good!

and 61.69 established the higher
standards for knowledge, experience and training that the
FAA thought necessary for glider towing.

Then the FAA didn't think much (more below).

The FAA thought it important that tow pilots know about
speeds, safety matters , and signals etc, that are pertinent
to glider operations, none of which subjects are covered in
the training for commercial pilots. That's one of the
primary reasons that a tow pilot must get ground and flight
training by a CFIG and make at least three tows while
accompanied by a tow "qualified" pilot.

Three tows ain't much!

The FAA's assumption is that certificated pilots can fly
airplanes but don't know much about glider ops without
additional training. Hence it requires the the training and
experience that is unique to gliders towing ops. Have you
ever been towed by a thoroughly competent commercial pilot
who strictly maintains the runway heading in a stiff
crosswind instead of drifting downwind (when field
conditions permit) because he is unaware of the
complications for a glider in the event of a low rope break
? Or been dragged down wind too far because the pilot is not
as sensitive to those conditions as we glider pilots?

Damn right I have!

The FAA further requires a unique towing currency provision
for tow pilots. A tow pilot towing every day for a year must
make at least three flights while accompanied by "qualified"
tow pilot or make three flights as PIC in a glider to remain
current for the coming year.

Again, not much

Flying commercially every day
as a charter pilot or shooting instrument approaches does
not solve the legal or practical requirements of maintaining
tow pilot currency.

Nor does shooting touch & goes or taking $100.00 hamburger flights in your
typical Cezzna.

All of these requirements reflect the fact that the FAA
appropriately recognized that towing required a unique set
of skills and experience.

The reality is that it takes far more than three tows to produce a
competent tow pilot. 61.69 provides a bare minimum of training. I would not
think of sending one of my solo students up behind a new tow pilot (Private,
Commercial, ATP, whatever) who had just shown up at the field and barely
complied with 61.69. Would you?

Actually; I have virtually no disagreement with what you have written
above, and agree that any given Private pilot might easily be a better tow pilot
than any given Commercial. That said, the reality is that I would rather have
an unknown Commercial pilot on the front of my tow rope than an unknown Private
pilot because the Commercial pilot has been trained to a higher standard and
probably has more experience. I have had some wild tows in my life and that is
something I can happily live without.

Don't get me wrong, in a club situation I could be happy and honored to tow
behind a good Private pilot, particularly one that was also a glider pilot.

But It *IS* about safety.
Vaughn












petency is a
very individual thing, but having passed the requirements for the Commercial
does establish a certain minimum.

Vaughn



--

Peter D. Brown
http://home.gci.net/~pdb/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akmtnsoaring/