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Old July 9th 14, 04:54 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Dan Marotta
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Posts: 4,601
Default Glider Tows at Salida, CO

What Randy said is how we worked it. Sorry for not making that part clear.

I contacted the owner several months before we planned our camp and
Steve (the local tow pilot) contacted me to firm up details. We
maintained contact to ensure that there would be no surprises or
disappointments when we arrived.

We rigged our own gliders and towed them to the takeoff point. Most of
us parked our trailers in the grass to be out of the way. Steve would
come in the morning to determine our needs and would return at an
agreed-to time. One of the glider pilots would climb up on the wing and
retrieve the rope from the nose compartment of the Pawnee and hook it to
the tug while he warmed up. One of us or our crews would hook up the
glider and run the wing. Following the first and subsequent launches,
the tug flew parallel to the runway and dropped the rope next to the
gliders where we retrieved it, hooked it to the tug, and repeated the
process until all were launched. Steve then left for the day.

Visitors should note that the east end of the runway is at the edge of a
steep drop-off and that there can be strong and gusty winds. It can be
quite turbulent and mid field landings were the norm for us. It seemed
most days we had upwards of 15 kt cross winds. One day I had 32 kts at
about 20-30 deg off runway heading at landing! Those of us from
Moriarty had no problem (not bragging, we just get a LOT of practice
with cross winds). Note that there are runway lights that are mounted
on stanchions. These love to eat wingtips leading edges should you lose
directional control on takeoff or landing. I've seen both on previous
trips. It was up to us to clear our ships from the active runway as
quickly as possible to avoid getting in the way of power traffic.

At departure, we received compliments both from Steve and from the
airport manager for our well planned and executed camp.

Dan Marotta

On 7/8/2014 7:56 PM, wrote:
Maybe not everything you need to know is on that site.
The towplane is owned by a non local. The only tow pilot is a local who has a lot of other interests, does not need to build airtime, and has his own homebuilt RV.
This is an atypical operation. There are only a few locals and we want to keep this going, so please respect the local tow pilot and don't drive him away with expectations of a full time commercial operation, operating at your whim.
We pull out the tow rope, do our own hook ups, run our own wings, try to consolidate when we tow and be the most undemanding glider pilots I have witnessed at other towing venues.
Sorry for the bluntness, but I am one of the local pilots hanging in here by a string.
Randy Cone V9