Tow Signals

Bummer, i was waiting for something like:
"towplane and glider took forever to get airborne, but neither aborted
or released due to inadequate training, and the combination flew
unscathed underneath the power lines and climbed away as if nothing had
happened"

now THAT wouldve been exciting!

Ramy wrote:
We had an interesting incident few years ago in an aero retrieve
attempt. They attempted a tow on a slightly up hill and relatively
short dirt runway (should have towed the other way) with power lines at
the end of the runway. The tow plane could not get off the ground on
time and aborted the takeoff, the glider was already in the air, could
not stop before the tow plane and could not land in front of the tow
plane due to the power lines. Luckily he already had enough energy to
zoom up and executed a perfect 180 and landed safely on the nearby
field.

Ramy

Chris Reed wrote:
I had exactly this happen to me, but on a runway too narrow to land
either side. It's remarkable how fast the mind can work, as I had time
to think:

1. Can I land and stop before hitting tug - no.

2. Can I go over the top of tug - no.

3. So it's go to the left (marginally more room), which leaves me
directly in line for the fuel bowser - worry about that once I'm past
the tug.

I flew 3, but there was standing crop to the left which I caught with
the wingtip. Result - a perfect 180 in mid-air and a backwards landing
with no damage to aircraft or crew. Interestingly, there's almost no
ground run on a backwards landing, so we never got near the fuel bowser.

Not sure I could repeat this successfully, and would rather not have to
attempt it.


Bill Daniels wrote:
What about tow plane aborts on the runway?

I had a tug pilot shut down and brake sharply to a stop right on the
centerline just after I had lifted off. It took some trick flying to avoid
hitting him. I thought this was one in a million until I saw it happen to
another glider pilot only a year later. In my case the tuggie suddenly
decided he didn't want to fly right then. In the other case, the tuggie
left the fuel cap off the Pawnee and gas was streaming onto the canopy.

Part of the "Emergency" pre-takeoff planning has to be about where to go if
the tug slams on the brakes. I'd think the tuggie should move as far to the
left as possible - even departing the runway to the left during an abort if
that is possible. AFAIK, runway aborts aren't addresed in tow pilot
training.

Bill Daniels


"BT" wrote in message
news:LhAXg.4029$gM1.2379@fed1read12...

Papa3.. I like your third one..

now another... how many instructors pull the rope at about 20-30ft AGL..
just as the climb starts.. and watch the student try to go every which way
but straight ahead and land. Remember the mantra.. below 200ft land
straight ahead.

We have a long 3500ft runway, we stage about 500ft down the runway, the
tow is normally airborn with 1500ft remaining.. we have 600ft of gravel
beyond the paved portion, that is 2100ft to land on from 40ft AGL. I can
pull the rope at 20-40ft at the 1500ft remaining marker.. (cross taxi
way).. a good student will get it down and I'll have to coax him to let it
roll to the end so we can just turn around and tow out the opposite
direction. I've had other students looking for a place to go and I've had
to take over.

Tow pilot may be briefed ahead.. but we have a standing rule.. if the tow
is airborne and feels a release.. the tow keeps going.. do not try to
land... your blocking the runway for the glider.. we also have about 150ft
of good landable grading beside the runway, whole length.

BT

"Papa3" wrote in message
roups.com...

BT wrote:

how many instructors coordinate with their tow pilot to give a rudder
wag at
200ft AGL..
and then watch what happens.. after appropriate ground school in a
previous
lesson of course..

and then.. on another lesson day.. coordinates for a wave off at 300ft?
and a good tow pilot might reduce power with the wave off or maybe start
a
gradual descent?

so many times.. I've had the tow pilot pull a close in down wind turn..
briefed of course.. never get above 500ft AGL and then start the wave
off..
the student or rated pilot on a flight review does not realize that the
pattern IS NOT NORMAL... what's going on.. and then... ohh.. he wants me
to
get off.. and then takes his sweet time doing it.. granted.. if all
appears
well.. make sure you are in a safe place to get off tow.. but if things
did
not look normal before.. that should have been the earlier clue to be
ready
for something.

BT

BT,

I couldn't agree with you more - many instructors let students get all
the way to their rating without the above sorts of "dirty tricks".
This is unacceptable.

Three that I always do:

- Towpilot begins to slowly throttle back (simulating loss of power
due to any number of reasons) at a pre-arranged altitude of about
500-700 AGL without a waveoff. In real-life, this is exactly what
might happen in the event of a non-catastrophic towplane problem while
the towpilot tries to figure out "what the ***". What does the
student do? Most will watch as the inevitable slack line develops and
we begin to transition from positive rate of climb to descent. About
20% figure out something is wrong and release while they still have
time to make a reasonable pattern and landing. When towpilot
finally gives the wave off MOST of the remainder are already on a high
enough alert level that they release immediately. A few freeze.

- Towpilot gives the rudder waggle at altitude (always above a safe
glide to the airport). Most do the right thing. A few either a)
release or b) ask me "what's he doing."

- This last one is "fun", though it isn't really a tow signal per se.
I admit that it's a hassle, but it can be a great learning tool. I
will have the towpilot plan on a particularly slow acceleration and a
marginal liftoff well down the field. All the while, I'll be asking
the student "does this feel right"? I will then pull the release (if
student hasn't already) and land straight ahead. The discussion that
ensues is along the lines of : a) Hey, it's your neck on the line.
b) Don't trust the towpilot blindly - maybe he's got a problem and has
forgotten about you. c) The trees at the end of the runway won't care
whose fault it was when you impact them 20 feet below the tops.
Caution: This requires careful coordination and briefing with the
towpilot, an ample length of remaining runway, coordination with other
traffic, etc. etc. I'll admit that not every student of mine has been
through this, though we do have the discussion.

Anyway, I think a lot of people get through training without these and
other dirty tricks, and it's a shame.

Erik Mann
LS8-18 (P3)