Quote:
Originally Posted by bumper[_4_]
I agree Walt. And while I have only a couple of hundred Pawnee towing hours, I have a couple of thousand in taildragger. For me, the toughest part of getting used to the Pawnee was the flare "sight picture" with that long snout, nothing like my Husky. Did make some rather embarrassing arrivals to begin with.
I'd guess the "locate here and tow for free" part, though sounding like lots of fun, would limit the pool of potential qualified tow pilots to those who are single, retired (independent income), and footloose and fancy free.
Never in the field of human soaring was so much owed by so many glider pilots to so few tow pilots.
bumper
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Bumper.....even after over 2000 landings in the Pawnee I still occasionally screw one up. I tell new pilots to the Pawnee to sit in it and get the picture of what 3 points looks like. I had the tendency to over rotate on flair, a hard habit to break. I hadn't touched a throttle to any significant degree in the 30 years prior to being asked to tow, but after some prep in a cub, Stearman and Pitts I felt good to go. The Pawnee is a pussycat compared to most taildraggers. I fall in the single, independent income class and occasionally get a call from elsewhere to see if I would like to come there and tow. My goal in the next year or two is to buy a motorhome and become a gypsy tow pilot, traveling the country soaring and occasionally playing the tug pilot role.
At some point the Pawnee's will be gone and the 182 will become the tow plane of choice for those who can afford it. Super Cubs and Huskys are even more expensive.
Walt