4 Gliders towed by one towplane -picture-

What every towpilot want(ed) for Christmas... ;-)

No mention of air conditioning, but room for the "mechanic" in the back
suggests help will be close at hand...

One fellow I know used to fly turbine Beech 18's, and noted that when
he flew, he logged:
Multiengine
Turbine
Complex
Retractable
High Performance
Taildragger

in his logbook. This aircraft appears to satisfy all but two of those
categories.

I'm guessing that this tug could launch the entire contest for the 1-26
Championships, given enough rope. Well, maybe it would take two
tows...

While it didn't have a turbine or room for the mechanic (unless you
count the chemical hopper), in '94 the Lake Elsinore Soaring Club
acquired a similar "Sky Shark," referred to locally as "Jaws." I had
the privilege (?) of flying it from East Coast to West Coast in
November of '94...only one leg had a tailwind. The rest of the trip
was like flying on a motocross track...

http://www.soarelsinore.org/jaws.gif

-Pete
#309 and former tug pilot


Jeffrey Banks wrote:
Specs for the Zlin 137t agro turbo:

In article .com,
"309" wrote:

What every towpilot want(ed) for Christmas... ;-)

You'd want to have a busy operation otherwise the stop/start engine
cycles would kill you.

--
Bruce | 41.1670S | \ spoken | -+-
Hoult | 174.8263E | /\ here. | ----------O----------

this is from the British Gliding Teams website...

5 gliders!

http://www.glidingteam.co.uk/images/...ns/NNP7375.jpg

JR

Jono Richards wrote:
this is from the British Gliding Teams website...

5 gliders!

http://www.glidingteam.co.uk/images/...ns/NNP7375.jpg

Cool winglets.

Shawn

What is the procedure if glider #3 has a rope break
at 50'?

Or if the towplane has an engine failure at the same
altitude?

I bet they look at the ropes real careful.

Now I am curious...how are the ropes attached? To
one main line? And then to one Tost?

It appears the shortest rope is also flying the highest. So a rope
break will involve a gentle pullup, allowing the rest of the group to
fly on ahead. If the runway is wide enough, it looks like the gliders
can fan out with minimal overlap, so maybe they do this until high
enough to stack up in a trailing formation.

If the runway is not wide enough, it seems to me the most dangerous
part will be 0 - 100' as all gliders behind the "failed" one will need
to release almost immediately to avoid running over him. So I suspect
they only do this on a wide runway.

Overall, as with any formation flight, a proper briefing and evaluation
of outcomes should produce a fairly safe ending for most situations. I
would have no problems being one of the glider pilots.

-Tom
Who's done dual 2-33 tow behind a Super Cub from Crystalaire to Bishop,
CA - about 200 miles.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=pearbl...3.506836&hl=en

This picture gives a better idea of the first stage
of the launch

http://www.gliding.sk/images/akrobac...1/stvorvlek.JP
G

Make sure the 'G' on the end of JPG is included in
the link - its being awkward.

Enjoy!

JR

The pic is a fake. Look at it closely, if you care.

wrote:
The pic is a fake. Look at it closely, if you care.

Why do you say that? Did you make it? ;-) Looks like a real, low res
pic to me.

Shawn

wrote:
The pic is a fake. Look at it closely, if you care.

Which Picture?

Do you think these are fakes:

http://www.gliding.sk/p005.htm



Jack