I've towed with my LS8 at many sites in many different conditions behind many different towplanes, and I've never had the problem you describe at an IAS (on my side) of above 65 kts. If the Pawnees (PGC?) were truly doing 80mph (70 kts), I can't imagine how this would be described as a "slow tow". I've had tows that dropped down into the low 60s or even high 50s (kts) where it felt squirrely, but that's a full 10kts slower than what you are describing.

Just a data point.

P3



On Saturday, November 9, 2013 10:40:05 AM UTC-5, John Carlyle wrote:
Thanks again for your thoughts, Steve. Sorry for my delay in responding.

All of our slow tow incidents have occurred above 500 feet; none of us has ever had a problem near the ground. Our airport elevation is 700 feet with unobstructed horizons, and the temperatures on the days of the incidents were mostly in the 70s. The Pawnee pilots claimed that they had been maintaining 80 mph during the climb to that point; but when they went to 90 mph the handling problem for the remainder of the tow was gone.