At 20:28 11 March 2009, Mike the Strike wrote:
You're right - it was the Samba, the Lambada's cousin. I witnessed
several launches there, including some ballasted ships and none of
them looked scary, although ground run was long.

I'm a great believer in towplane mass and power - my all time favorite
is the 600 HP AgCat.

Mike


Long ? About 3km available on the northerly run and 1.4 south!
The Samba didn't need anything like that. It is still being used for
towing at Gariep and other places.
Its launch rate was only a little less than the other tugs used (C182's
mostly). It might have been entertaining if he had been towing the Nimbus
3 with brakes open instead of a C182 (which was only just climbing!).