I had forgotten that one, Tom.Â* How embarrassing!

As I recall, after you got my attention, what I heard over the radio was
something like, "Dan, you're trailing smoke!"Â* That really got my
attention!Â* We had just crossed into the eastern slopes of the San Juan
mountains and there was no place to land.Â* My first thought was to turn
back towards the valley, but a quick look in the cockpit got my
attention on the mixture lever.

I did 54 tows that week with a bucket brigade and about 8 or 9 5-gallon
gas cans hauling Super Premium car gas from Creede to the airport.

Wasn't that the weekend trip that we learned the legend of Charlie
PeePee...?

On 4/15/2020 8:56 PM, 5Z wrote:
Dan, I do remember your comments after we had done a bit of grazing on the SW face of Pike Peak. That was a fun flight.

Back in September 1994, Dan volunteered to fly a Pawnee, and I a L-23 from Westcliffe, CO to Creede, CO for an annual BFSS "Fall Colors" weekend. I ended up giving 21 rides over the 3 days we were there. I took turns with several other ride pilots, so the glider was quite busy. The fun part, though, was the tow...

Early Friday morning, Dan drove by my home in Colorado Springs, picked me up and we drove to Wescliffe. Neither plane had a radio, but we each had a handheld, so we were set. The plan was for me to drop into low tow if I needed to communicate. Dan would then put the radio up to his ear and try to hear my call over the engine noise in the cockpit :-)

It's just 75 miles from Silver West airport to Mineral County, but there's a couple little ridges to cross. Takeoff at 8290 MSL and head SW to Mosca Pass at only 9740 MSL. We actually turned short, as the climb rate in the morning was quite good. Crossing the San Luis Valley, we continued to climb slowly, since the terrain going into Creede is 12K or higher. Mineral County is at 8680 MSL, so not much elevation change between takeoff and landing. San Luis valley is flat desert with some farms and scattered duster strips, so I always had a safe place to go in case of a rope break.

As we're climbing through 11K, maybe 12K, and nearing the tiger country east of Creede I notice a hint of black smoke coming from the towplane! A minute later, i decide it's time to tell Dan. So I drop to low tow and wait for his call. Took a couple tries, but the message finally got through. A minute or two later, the smoke stops :-)

Dan had forgotten to lean the mixture as we were climbing, not something done on most tows, since it's only set it at takeoff. During the tow, running a bit rich for a few minutes is fine. But on a long, high tow....

Sure got Dan's attention, since his landing options pretty limited in the mountains. Me, I had glide to Creede :-)

Tom 5Z

--
Dan, 5J