Recognizing and reacting to tow plane engine failure

Glider pilots and tow pilots have an iron-clad covenant that should be talked about, not just silently acknowledged: You do your very best not to kill me, and I'll do my very best not to kill you. Towing is a unique thing in aviation, it's serious business, and it needs to be constantly recognized as such.


I had a tow pilot get mad at me just the other month for doing a steering turn. He slammed the Pawnee over so hard I couldn't follow him and it broke the rope. My passenger was so freaked out he'll never fly again. When I talked to the tow pilot about it he admitted that it ****ed him off when I tried to steer him.

Boggs

On Friday, October 24, 2014 12:43:25 PM UTC-4, Waveguru wrote:
Glider pilots and tow pilots have an iron-clad covenant that should be talked about, not just silently acknowledged: You do your very best not to kill me, and I'll do my very best not to kill you. Towing is a unique thing in aviation, it's serious business, and it needs to be constantly recognized as such.


I had a tow pilot get mad at me just the other month for doing a steering turn. He slammed the Pawnee over so hard I couldn't follow him and it broke the rope. My passenger was so freaked out he'll never fly again. When I talked to the tow pilot about it he admitted that it ****ed him off when I tried to steer him.

Boggs

Hmmmm - maybe you should pass the word around your airport so that particular tow pilot never flies again! At the least acquaint him with the mnemonic IMSAFE so he can run a check on himself. For non-US pilots it stands for Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, and Emotion (on occasionally Eating, especially lack thereof).

-John, Q3

Hmmmm - maybe you should pass the word around your airport

From what I understand, ours is not the only airport around here where he is no longer welcome to fly either tug, or his ASW-28...

Boggs

On 2014-10-24 16:43:23 +0000, Waveguru said:


Glider pilots and tow pilots have an iron-clad covenant that should be
talked about, not just silently acknowledged: You do your very best
not to kill me, and I'll do my very best not to kill you. Towing is a
unique thing in aviation, it's serious business, and it needs to be
constantly recognized as such.


I had a tow pilot get mad at me just the other month for doing a
steering turn. He slammed the Pawnee over so hard I couldn't follow
him and it broke the rope. My passenger was so freaked out he'll never
fly again. When I talked to the tow pilot about it he admitted that it
****ed him off when I tried to steer him.
Boggs

Around here, if a tow pilot hits the stops on any control (including
rudder) then you're going to wear the rope.

If you want him to turn, use the radio.

We regularly review steering turns in the glider training program and talk it over with the tow pilots. We rarely use it in flight. Normally the glider pilots figure the tow knows where the lift is, or a destination for top of tow was coordinated before flight.

Engine failure, witnessed one. Stearman tow plane, the glider pilot saw a puff of smoke and the rope dropped from the tow in the next second. Glider ended up off field. The Stearman had popped the top off a jug and returned back to the field at minimum power.

I've had stuck valve vibrations in the Pawnee and held on to 300ft AGL and calmly directed the student solo pilot to "Release, release, release" and he did and returned to the field as did I.

Training and regular reviews.
BillT

Soooo..when practicing "box the wake" one should expect there is a good possibility to be "given" the rope. ??

Cookie



On Friday, October 24, 2014 4:46:13 PM UTC-4, Bruce Hoult wrote:
On 2014-10-24 16:43:23 +0000, Waveguru said:


Glider pilots and tow pilots have an iron-clad covenant that should be
talked about, not just silently acknowledged: You do your very best
not to kill me, and I'll do my very best not to kill you. Towing is a
unique thing in aviation, it's serious business, and it needs to be
constantly recognized as such.


I had a tow pilot get mad at me just the other month for doing a
steering turn. He slammed the Pawnee over so hard I couldn't follow
him and it broke the rope. My passenger was so freaked out he'll never
fly again. When I talked to the tow pilot about it he admitted that it
****ed him off when I tried to steer him.
Boggs

Around here, if a tow pilot hits the stops on any control (including
rudder) then you're going to wear the rope.

If you want him to turn, use the radio.

When I used to do a lot of "scenic glider rides" many times the passenger would request to "fly over their house"..but the request was made once airborne...

Steering turns worked great for this!

Cookie




On Friday, October 24, 2014 11:31:25 PM UTC-4, Bill T wrote:
We regularly review steering turns in the glider training program and talk it over with the tow pilots. We rarely use it in flight. Normally the glider pilots figure the tow knows where the lift is, or a destination for top of tow was coordinated before flight.

Engine failure, witnessed one. Stearman tow plane, the glider pilot saw a puff of smoke and the rope dropped from the tow in the next second. Glider ended up off field. The Stearman had popped the top off a jug and returned back to the field at minimum power.

I've had stuck valve vibrations in the Pawnee and held on to 300ft AGL and calmly directed the student solo pilot to "Release, release, release" and he did and returned to the field as did I.

Training and regular reviews.
BillT

We always brief that a student will box the wake above 1,000' AGL. We
also prebrief steering turns for training flights. Having said that,
I've steered the tug when he was a new tuggie and having radio
problems. No problems there.

Dan Marotta

On 10/25/2014 4:52 AM, Cookie wrote:
Soooo..when practicing "box the wake" one should expect there is a good possibility to be "given" the rope. ??

Cookie



On Friday, October 24, 2014 4:46:13 PM UTC-4, Bruce Hoult wrote:
On 2014-10-24 16:43:23 +0000, Waveguru said:

Glider pilots and tow pilots have an iron-clad covenant that should be
talked about, not just silently acknowledged: You do your very best
not to kill me, and I'll do my very best not to kill you. Towing is a
unique thing in aviation, it's serious business, and it needs to be
constantly recognized as such.

I had a tow pilot get mad at me just the other month for doing a
steering turn. He slammed the Pawnee over so hard I couldn't follow
him and it broke the rope. My passenger was so freaked out he'll never
fly again. When I talked to the tow pilot about it he admitted that it
****ed him off when I tried to steer him.
Boggs
Around here, if a tow pilot hits the stops on any control (including
rudder) then you're going to wear the rope.

If you want him to turn, use the radio.

On Friday, October 24, 2014 10:31:25 PM UTC-5, Bill T wrote:
Engine failure, witnessed one. Stearman tow plane, the glider pilot saw a puff of smoke and the rope dropped from the tow in the next second. Glider ended up off field.

Unless there are special circumstances (such as an aero retrieve), I would consider it bad practice to tow a glider out of gliding range of the departing airfield. And considering that most towplanes climb faster than gliders sink, unless you take the glider directly downwind or to the lee of a ridge, it isn't that hard.

Wave conditions, of course, may introduce variables (rotor, etc)...

Or the glider pilot may be somewhat lacking in skill...

Kirk

On Friday, October 24, 2014 4:46:13 PM UTC-4, Bruce Hoult wrote:


Around here, if a tow pilot hits the stops on any control (including
rudder) then you're going to wear the rope.

Dumping the glider because the *rudder* hit the stop is way over the top. Someone needs to HTFU.

T8