Funny Story - Glider Tow

Received related topic from my R/C Glider friends

(and you thought we had aero tow issues!)

michael

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Funny Story - Glider Tow

I flew my Fly'n King with a banner last week. Boy, did it work great.

The tow point recommended by Bruce Tharp was perfect, right behind
the
trailing edge of the wing, centered on the fuselage. I made the
banner
according to the design on Allen Tong's website, worked the first
time.

We also towed a TT Windstar glider with less than desirable results.
It was very funny. I piloted the FK and my buddy flew the glider. All
went well until the first turn, then the glider started to buck like
a
mad horse. All kinds of slack got in the line and it just got more
pronounced the longer we flew. The glider is an old beater, so I did
not care if it did not survive. We had a length of surgical tubing in
the tow line, but it did not seem to help very much. My buddy cut it
loose and glided back to safety. I dropped the tow line over the
runway and landed without incident. On the second try another member
showed up who had flown full scale tow planes and gliders. He got
volunteered to pilot the glider. This flight was far worse than the
first flight. The glider eventually bucked so hard it broke the
rubber
bands holding it's wing on. The wing fluttered to the ground unharmed
while I towed the "lawn dart" fuse of the glider all over the friggin
field. We were laughing so hard because the glider pilot was still
able to "fly" the lawn dart from time to time, and the whole mess
looked so funny with the fuse dragging 80 feet below the tow plane. I
circled a few times trying to figure what to do next. Finally I
dropped the tow line and glider in the tall soft grass on the far
side
of the runway. It stuck in the soft soil about four inches, totally
unharmed.

Wish we had a film of that. I would entitle it, "When Good Planes Go
Bad". We are still laughing at ourselves on this one. We might make
several darts and create a competitive sport out of this.

Tom

On Sat, 7 Feb 2009 07:26:46 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Wish we had a film of that. I would entitle it, "When Good Planes Go
Bad". We are still laughing at ourselves on this one. We might make
several darts and create a competitive sport out of this.

Well Tom,

here's the hardcore version of your story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txpQg...eature=related

Hi Andreas,

Ouch! It really hurts to watch that video. All that work on such a
fantastic flying sailplane model - gone in a few seconds.... Bummer. I
guess that is an accepted risk of those who fly their lovely models.

Paul Remde

"Andreas Maurer" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 7 Feb 2009 07:26:46 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Wish we had a film of that. I would entitle it, "When Good Planes Go
Bad". We are still laughing at ourselves on this one. We might make
several darts and create a competitive sport out of this.

Well Tom,

here's the hardcore version of your story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txpQg...eature=related

I'm sorry but that is freeking HILARIOUS!

Sad and tragic of course

Tom,

The U.S. Air Force used to tow (lawn) darts. Maybe they still do?

Back when I was stationed at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, (I was not
a military pilot...too blind...), F-4's and even contracted F-86 Sabre
Jets (!) would tow "darts" for air to air gunnery practice! These
darts were about, oh, 12 to 15 feet long and carried under the wing.
Out on the range, they would reel them out with a long, long, cable.
Then, the shooter would maneuver behind the dart and try to hit it,
without hitting the tuggie. I think the tuggie must have flown in a
turn when the dart was being shot at. If the dart got so shot up that
it became unstable, they would release it. They fell to the ground,
some of them ending stuck vertically in the desert floor. If they
were still stable after the target practice, I think they winched them
back in and brought them back to be scored. They were made, I think,
with a wooden frame and covered in something that looked like aluminum
foil. Out in the desert, when the sun was at the right angle, you
could see the glimmer of dozens of these darts. I was at Luke from
March '81 through March '83.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

Here's some stuff on one of the heaviest aero-tows I've heard of, and
certainly the highest wing loading for the glider.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pEXuzi9IWg
http://www.f-106deltadart.com/eclipse.htm
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/p...in_Eclipse.pdf

I've arranged this from fast and easy thru the full story, which I found
a fascinating read.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

On Feb 9, 8:34*pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:

which I found a fascinating read.

Yes, thanks for posting!

Andy

On Feb 7, 6:35*pm, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Sat, 7 Feb 2009 07:26:46 -0800 (PST), wrote:
Wish we had a film of that. I would entitle it, "When Good Planes Go
Bad". We are still laughing at ourselves on this one. We might make
several darts and create a competitive sport out of this.

Well Tom,

here's the hardcore version of your story:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txpQg...eature=related

Oh that hurts to watch. I saw something similar years ago where both a
towplane and glider model were destroyed. In that one the towplane
radio had a problem and the glider could not release in time. I wonder
if they should rig a deadmans switch type arrangement for the glider
pilot's radio where letting go would release the glider on tow. King
of like a buddy box switch. Seems the towplane pilot could have
aborted the takeoff. Even if he can't watch everything goign on you'd
have hoped the glider pilot would let him know something bad is going
on (using suitable descriptive phraseology). Anybody know if is is
common for the towing models to be able to release the line?

Darryl

Anybody know if is is
common for the towing models to be able to release the line?

Darryl

Yes, I've done several Aero Tows with models, always have a servo that
can release the tow line at each end, just like full sized planes.

In the East Coast and Midwest they even have meets for model aero tows
with very powerful tugs hauling up 3.5 to 4.5 meter models of ASW's
and such.