On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 16:41:42 +0100, Artur Rutkowski
wrote:

Hi,

Is here anybody who has experience with Socata Rally 235 as tow-plane?
Have you been flying this plane as tow-plane or being towed behind? What
are pros and cons? How does this plane look in comparison to competitors
like Pawnee, Maule, Husky, Wilga, Robin and so on.
I'll appreciate any relevant information because my airclub is
considering purchase of such a plane and we don't want to "miss"

Artur

I used a Socata Rallye 235E for 5 years in a commercial glider
operation. I liked it very much. It has excellent power and great
visibility.

There are two weak points to the aircraft. The first is the shimmy
damper for the nose wheel. Here is a link to more info on the
problem:
http://www.aviline.com/rallye/shimmy/

Basically the shimmy damper is little small for the job it is being
asked to do and needs to be looked after quite closely. Do not let
the hydraulic fluid in it get low. (The machined block of aluminum
that holds the pistons in the damper cost $1,060 US 5 years ago.)

The second recurring problem was a leak in the fuel tanks. I had a
fuel tank leak about every two years I operated the plane. The
previous operator of the plane, who was also towing gliders had two or
three fuel tank leaks in the 7 years he operated it.

This is my theory on what causes the problem The tanks are aluminum.
The leading edge slats that come out at slow flight have support arms
that go through tubes in the tanks. As the wing flexes it tends to
concentrate the flexing at the bottom of the tube closest to
fuselage. Over time the flexing causes a pin hole crack in the weld
at the bottom of the tube. Both of the leaks I had were in this area.

The tanks are not that difficult to remove. The leading edge slats
needs to be removed and the tank comes out the end of the wing.

I am not sure how common this was with other Rallyes. We tried to get
the towplane down quickly after tows, so the towpilots would do a
power on spiral to get down. This would put at least 2.5gs on the
plane as it was letting down.

I do not know where you are located. Used parts are difficult to
locate in the United States. However there is a Socata dealer in the
US that stocks many Rallye parts. In a rush they will have parts
shipped overnight from France, but you will pay dearly for the
service.

I was able to locate some used parts in England and had them shipped
over. However the Freight Forwarding company in the US took much
longer to move the parts in the US and do the paper work (10 days)
than it took to get the parts from England to the US (2 days). Though
I think a better freight forwarding company could have managed the
problem more quickly.


There is a Rallye Owners web page at:
http://www.flyrallye.com/