On 6/13/2012 2:18 PM, John Cochrane wrote:

Snip...


Last comment -- towplanes. It's common in contests to bring in
towplanes that have been ferrying 2-33's all season long. They take
off and head for the sky while the glider is still on the ground or in
ground effect. This is especially hard for standard class gliders with
inadequate angle of incidence. The maneuver is as explained in someone
else's earlier post -- the tow plane should take off as normal, but
stay low until it has reached tow speed. You know you're headed for
trouble when the chorus of "more speed" erupts from glider after
glider.

Bemused Question (from a non-contest pilot):

John's complaint about 'not dialed in' contest tuggies is a recurring theme in
my years of reading contest reports, RAS, engaging in BS sessions, etc.

I've long been puzzled why this should be so. Let's assume everything John
posits above is spot-on.

Where's the breakdown? Failure to communicate to tuggies in pre-contest
briefings? Idiot towpilots? Something(s) else?

I realize all it takes is for one tuggie to make one bad tow for it to become:
a) a life-threatening problem; b) majorly gripeworthy, and c) highly 'O
Beer-thirty' worthy. Item a) by itself would seem sufficient justification for
contest organizations to 'work really hard' to ensure the problem doesn't
happen. Further, it's not as if this is a new situation, after all. The
problem certainly shouldn't be endemic, or untreatable? What am I missing?

Just curious...

Bob W.

P.S. I've never seen this same situation even remotely approach 'an endemic
situation' at beaucoup 'semi-watered' camps I've attended over the years,
where volunteer club tuggies are the norm.