"Ed Byars" wrote in
:

In the latest Fall edition of TO FLY, publication of the Sport Avia.
Assoc., I read a reprint of a July 1944 issue of SKYWAYS mag. about a
long tow! Across the Atlantic no less. I just can't believe it. Can
somebody help me verify it? No date of the flight was given. It was a
Waco CG-4A (named Voo-Doo) and was by the British from Montreal with
one stop on the "east coast"(?). The second leg was 28 hours with
landing in "Britain". They had a cargo load of 3000 pounds. Only pilot
(Seys, RAF) and copilot (Gobeil, RAF) aboard. Mention was made of
thunder, snow and ice. Quote: "....the snow and ice were so thick that
the towplane, for the most part, was invisible. Only fifteen feet or
so of the towrope could be seen." I have been involved in several long
cross country tows, one of which involved the towplane towing me into
a cloud. I lasted about 20 seconds before the rope broke. But that's
another story. If this story is true the details would really be
interesting and my hat's off. If it is untrue their must be some sort
of story behind it of interest.
Can anybody fill us in?
Ed Byars



I read somewhere, can't remember where, that CG-4 pilots would tie a red
rag on the tow rope some short distance from the cockpit, and early in the
flight would mark a circle on the windshield with a china marker to show
the position of the rag during normal tow. The red rag and china marker
circle on the windshield was apparently enough to stay behind the tug in
instrument condtions. Can anybody confirm this?
-Bob Korves