Higher Tows for Training Flights

On Thursday, May 31, 2012 3:14:18 PM UTC-4, noel.wade wrote:
As some of you know, I'm working on my CFIG (should get it after
contest season is over). But I have some strong disagreements with the
way my club handles instructing and so I'll be going my own way once I
have the cert. One area I've been thinking about a lot is our 3000-
foot "standard" tow. This seems to be a habitual height for a lot of
operations in the US; but just because it's a good height for catching
a thermal doesn't mean it's a good height for instructional tows...

Are there any clubs or operators out there that make high tows (say,
5000') for instructional flights? If so, can you provide any feedback
on how it works "in the real world"?


Don't disagree with the thought process at all. When I was doing a LOT of primary instructing (every weekend for 4-6 hours, sometimes both days), I did tend to mix in a "high tow" every so often if tow capacity permitted. What I typically found was that:

- 3,000 feet was more than enough for the early lessons. Student was often overwhelmed and downright sweaty in the palms after 20 minutes.

- A 4,000 or even 5,000 foot tow around flights 5 through 20 was sometimes useful, though I would rather prolong the flight using thermals (even circling in and out of weak lift can result in a satisfying flight from a lower tow)

- Patterns and landings consumed the majority of time/tows from flight 15 or so onward

In the club where I learned, we were fortunate to have auto tows available. So, one could shoot 4-5 landings in an hour starting from various heights and locations for a few bucks. In the end, this was far more critical to outcomes than longer/higher aero tows IMO.