Advertising for tow pilots

like many clubs, we have troubles finding enough tow pilots. We have a Pawnee tow plane so we need to find the ever fewer pilots that are tailwheel qualified, and meet the insurance minimums. The other big issue is finding the candidate pilots that are qualified and interested in spending their weekend days with the club for no pay, just fun flying hours, many take offs and landings, a bit of standing around waiting and hopefully camaraderie. [in other words: horrible working conditions ;-) ]
I was looking for ideas on where to find our recruiting pool?
I was also considering what we could do if we budgeted a few hundred bucks a year for advertising, where we could reach candidates? Want ads in power flying publications? agricultural pilot/crop duster schools/organizations/companies, regular ads, online ads via facebook, google etc [hopefully somewhat narrowly targeted], any specific web sites,
' etc...
please share your ideas and or success stories.
Chris

We train our own tow pilots. If we have powered ASEL pilots join the club for their glider rating, then after they are glider rated, we encourage them to tow. Give back to the club. We offer tailwheel training and tow checkouts. Luckily we currently have access to a C170B for training.

BillT

As a tow pilot myself, flying a Pawnee I find the insurance requirement to be a bit off the center line. While a 500 hour total time requirement is reasonable, the requirement for 150 hours of tailwheel time can be deceptive. One could have 150 hours and 75 or 150 landings if they are flying cross country, perhaps less. In addition some insurance companies prefer you have 5 hours in the Pawnee before they insure you. Once you get into the air, airplanes are the same, it's the landing of a tailwheel that requires practice and proficiency. I'd rather have someone with 20 or 30 hours and 200 or 300 or more landings than a high time guy with fewer cycles. In the last year I've flown just short of 300 hours with over 2000 tows. Insurance companies might need to rethink these requirements. JMHO. (as taildraggers go, the Pawnee is quite docile)

Walt

Walt, we do not have such strict insurance requirements. They used to require at least 200hrs airplane, 25 hrs tailwheel and 5 Pawnee or be named on the insurance. We had no problems getting named pilots, just don't have a lot of them. Because of our training program we now have an open policy. If we say you can fly the Pawnee, you are covered. We do due diligence in training. We still want 200hrs power. We can provide the 10hr tailwheel checkout, at cost. We provide the Pawnee and tow training and mentoring.
BillT

I agree Walt. And while I have only a couple of hundred Pawnee towing hours, I have a couple of thousand in taildragger. For me, the toughest part of getting used to the Pawnee was the flare "sight picture" with that long snout, nothing like my Husky. Did make some rather embarrassing arrivals to begin with.

I'd guess the "locate here and tow for free" part, though sounding like lots of fun, would limit the pool of potential qualified tow pilots to those who are single, retired (independent income), and footloose and fancy free.

Never in the field of human soaring was so much owed by so many glider pilots to so few tow pilots.

bumper

Originally Posted by Bill T

Walt, we do not have such strict insurance requirements. They used to require at least 200hrs airplane, 25 hrs tailwheel and 5 Pawnee or be named on the insurance. We had no problems getting named pilots, just don't have a lot of them. Because of our training program we now have an open policy. If we say you can fly the Pawnee, you are covered. We do due diligence in training. We still want 200hrs power. We can provide the 10hr tailwheel checkout, at cost. We provide the Pawnee and tow training and mentoring.
BillT

Bill,

Our insurance at a commercial operation requires 500 total time and 150 in taildraggers. I believe your requirements are more sensible and quite adequate. I understand that in some cases the chief pilot can approve another pilot with less experience and while experience is the great teacher, intelligence, maturity and a willingness to fly within ones own parameters is of paramount importance IMHO.


Walt

Originally Posted by bumper[_4_]

I agree Walt. And while I have only a couple of hundred Pawnee towing hours, I have a couple of thousand in taildragger. For me, the toughest part of getting used to the Pawnee was the flare "sight picture" with that long snout, nothing like my Husky. Did make some rather embarrassing arrivals to begin with.

I'd guess the "locate here and tow for free" part, though sounding like lots of fun, would limit the pool of potential qualified tow pilots to those who are single, retired (independent income), and footloose and fancy free.

Never in the field of human soaring was so much owed by so many glider pilots to so few tow pilots.

bumper

Bumper.....even after over 2000 landings in the Pawnee I still occasionally screw one up. I tell new pilots to the Pawnee to sit in it and get the picture of what 3 points looks like. I had the tendency to over rotate on flair, a hard habit to break. I hadn't touched a throttle to any significant degree in the 30 years prior to being asked to tow, but after some prep in a cub, Stearman and Pitts I felt good to go. The Pawnee is a pussycat compared to most taildraggers. I fall in the single, independent income class and occasionally get a call from elsewhere to see if I would like to come there and tow. My goal in the next year or two is to buy a motorhome and become a gypsy tow pilot, traveling the country soaring and occasionally playing the tug pilot role.

At some point the Pawnee's will be gone and the 182 will become the tow plane of choice for those who can afford it. Super Cubs and Huskys are even more expensive.

Walt

As a reasonably large Club (120 members, 2 tow planes)we have found that it is important to work with your insurance company and convince them that you have good written programs, procedures, check rides, etc in place. They will then tend to allow you to provide a good deal of latitude to your Chief Tow Pilot and Chief Glider Instructor. While the 500 hours is a good basic number you need this latitude. Currency is every bit as important as total hours over the last XX years. Even more important is attitude and judgment.

The 150 TW hours is, in my opinion, far too high. While our average TP candidate has high total time we only require a TW endorsement and 15 TW hours.. We then give them 10 hours of training in an L-19 including a minimum of 10 dual tows. Our other TP is a Pawnee with the STC to 250 HP.

Our big problem now is the fact that the fleet if L-19s is getting long in the tooth, and we have not found an acceptable 2-place replacement. We fly off of short grass runways and Super Cubs and other 180 HP tugs do not give us the safety margin we really need. Another problem is the high cost of getting the TW endorsement. I have had several retired airline types tell me they would like to tow but 15 hours of dual at a local FBO at $150 - $185 per hour is too steep for them.

Any suggestions on a replacement for our L-19 on short grass fields will be appreciated.

Skip Guimond

I'd suggest you sell the Pawnee and buy a nice clean 182.

On Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 10:41:41 AM UTC-5, Tony wrote:
I'd suggest you sell the Pawnee and buy a nice clean 182.

In my soaring operation in west Texas I've used Cessna 182's for decades. I grew up towing with Cubs in Miami but I'm instructing in the sailplane most of the time so I wanted towplanes that most any proficient pilot could fly. (Even so, not all qualify when attempting my towpilot initial and recurrent endorsements.) The tricycle gear 1958 or 1959 "square tail" C-182 handles crosswinds and dust devils better than a tailwheel towplane for the obvious reasons and tows very well at our high elevation at Marfa (5,000' msl plus density altitude.) No cooling issues. My west Texas "winter towplane" is a tricycle gear Cessna 150 with a 180 HP Lycoming engine. Not your momma's 150 and fun to fly!

Towing is not for everybody. It can be dangerous flying mostly due to inattention of the sailplane pilot behind you, occasionally flying too high and kiting on tow. Ask me how I know.

While I'm at it . . . Diving the towplane after release is quite dangerous especially to sailplanes below release altitude. Lost a good friend in 1980 who was hit in his ASW-20 by a towplane diving down from above. Cut his elevator off with the towrope. Towpilot didn't see him against the ground clutter and was diving so fast he could not turn at the last moment. (It's a vector thing.) What's the rush, anyway? Are we flying the US Mail or on a military mission?

Most of the towplanes I launch behind in Europe are tricycle gear Robins & Rallyes.

"The Towpilot Manual" is concise booklet on towing available at www.bobwander.com
Inexpensive and now in the 7th printing.
Also refer to the 24 month re-currency requirements of FAR 61.69. Read it carefully!

Bless the towpilots. I feed, water and pay mine very well so they fly "my way." No rushing to tow, no fast taxiing, no diving. Safe and fun.