Bumper, I don't know if you a joking, but there is a related story
about "Free-Tows".

When I was a kid, growing up on a gliderport south of Miami, Dad (Fritz
Compton) had a Cub towplane. One particularly wealthy and "loud"
sailplane pilot would alway holler "thanks for the tows - I'll buy 'ya
a tank of gas sometime!" Then walk away laughing. After several dozen
free tows to this guy, Dad turned his anger into art: He painted the
words "El Frito" on the rudder of our Cub, but never got that tank of
gas, probably worth about $5.00 in the 1950's.

My Dad always encouraged me to build my commercial glider operation,
and at age 90 told me this story (again) just last month. I listen
patiently of course, but his business lesson is there, and twenty
gallons of gas for my towplane is now over $100. Later, I shoulda made
that guy pay his debt to our family, but he's dead. But the irony is
that Dad won - he outlived the S.O.B.!

A retired commercial glider operator once told me: "There are two ways
glider operations go out of business: A poor safety culture or they
didn't charge enough for their services."

Burt
Marfa Gliders, west Texas
www.flygliders.com