Mike - The AG Cat would have had the R1300 engine. LOTS of power.

HAve towed behind Samba and Lambada here.

Both are fine for 15m single seaters. Actually much nicer to tow behind
with a dry 15m club class glider - very nice and smooth. Hot and high -
at over 5100 feet MSL and 25+ centigrade +2.5kt on the vario.

The excess power is limited, but you don't need huge amounts to climb.
Just 20-30 hp extra, and a tug that climbs well in the speed range you
tow at.

Would be somewhat cautious with a heavy glider because of that slow
initial acceleration. Especially on grass.

However - the available performance is quite remarkable.
Have seen a Janus (now there is a heavy 2 seater if ever there was one)
Launched behind one of these 100hp Lambadas.
5100" MSL (at Magaliesburg)
24 Centigrade
2 "well rounded" pilots on board Janus.
P1 inadvertently released the drag chute during the launch.
There the combination is, maintaining height but heading away from the
field at 50 feet AGL, over the rocks trees and power lines, and clearly
in some trouble.
Tug pilot was obliged to exceed redline on the engine by a couple of
hundred RPM to get a positive climb and turn back.
Tuggie saw the parachute's shadow on the turn back, took the Janus to
over the numbers at 100" and released. Janus pilot was surprised at how
much stick forward was required to maintain approach speed.

No Rotax was damaged in the production of the little drama, the only
damage was to some egos.

Note to self - don't do stupid things on the day there is a national
association meeting happening at your club...



On 2012/10/18 10:08 PM, Mike the Strike wrote:
I witnessed a tricycle Virus (essentially a short wingspan Lambada) towing at the World's in South Africa over ten years ago - that was at high density altitude, but from a very looong runway. Take-off runs were notably long, but otherwise the tows looked fine. It would be interesting to hear reports from any participants.

My own perspective is that power rules (maybe I've lived in the USA too long!) and that the quicker I can get away from the ground and off tow the better! I have fond memories of my ASW-20 being dragged skyward by an Ag-Cat that, if I remember correctly, had a giant radial engine of more than 450HP.

Mike


--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771