Glider Towing Round 1 Video

[pitviper51]

YouTube - HCRC A Glider View of being towed

just a video from my clubs first round of towing. not my flying, or my craft, i would be fast to put longer tow line on it. it gets wild right before release., let me know what ya think
mike

[rking]

holy crap, is that towing normal? looked like a really rough tow. there were some instances that glider was moving quite abruptly. i maybe wrong though, dunno anything about towing gliders

[pitviper51]

those involved are working from scratch on the towing, so a bit of trial and error.. i know the tow line needs to be longer.. the glider only has rudder and elevator so some control is hard to to,, also after see this video i thnk the tow line is tooo heavy. it gets a load of slack.. i am building a 2.6 m ventus to be towed, and ill have a looonnnggg tow line and full control , this stuff is fun and differnt, but you are right it was a rough tow, tho i thnk it was getting hard to see the planes at the tiem of release
mike

[RADRICH]

Yeah,...already told somebody,(I think Darvin) that whoever is flying the glider needs to keep elevator inputs to near nil. He needs to let the the tow plane "tow" the glider up. If you'll notice, thru most of the tow, he's elevated too high above the tow plane which is what is causing all the slack in the line. Aileron and rudder only to stay behind the tow plane until after release.

[rking]

what kind of tow plane was used? i love gliders too as much as i love my scale aerobatic sport planes. looks like towing gliders would be lots of fun. something really big would be nice.

perhaps a GIANT giant telemaster?

YouTube - Giant Telemaster 3x - 5,40m, Fenix

hehehe

[RustyTumbles]

First of all towing a glider with rudder and elevator only is a bad idea, ailerons are the main control while on a tow.

The glider pilot need to keep the wings level on the tow and let the tug pull it around the turns. Also its a good idea to stay just above the tug but not to high. When heading down wind keep a close eye on the tow line as some of the modern gliders may accelerate and start to over fly the tug creating slack in the line. This can be avoided by putting out just enough brake (if fitted to the glider) to keep the line tight.

We will be towing some big scale gliders at my club in the next few weeks so I'll try and get some video and pics of it.

[pitviper51]

i know 2 ch towing is iffy.. and the high tow it normal.. the big thing with this one the glider is a flaoter and if it goes to fast it wobbles bad. there is no air brake on this glider so the down wind is gonna be fun.. i had my alula handlauch towed by an electric that day and it would zoom up on the tug fast its penitration is great, lil eaier to tow 2ch flying wing with velcro hahah its all a work in progress.
mike

[rpasznicki]

I've watched some glider pilots at a local club that do lots of tow launching. They prefer to use a giant aerobatic plane like a 100cc extra even on only average sized gliders that way they can climb really steep, almost vertical that way they don't have to make any turns making it easier for both pilots,just a straight line from take off to release. The extra can also handle coming down fast allowing them to launch six of more gliders in just a few minutes.

[RustyTumbles]

That's a technique we use also if the glider pilot is not comfortable turning. We have a couple of tugs one is a 3.5m super hotts the other is a big electric trainer type airframe. The hotts is what we use for the really big stuff and the other is for the smaller or slower vintage gliders.

Here's a pic of the hotts its powered by a 3w 150.

[cliff600]

We did the same thing exactly. We had the same problems that you did too. We found out that if you move the glider tow point back, kinda between the nose and the high start hook, but a little closer to the high start hook, it tows much better. The glider will almost completely stop that crazy rocking and even become much more stable in the turns. We used a 2 channel glider as well, not as easy as 3 or 4, but it was cheap and we were just goofing off. Looks like you guys were having though and that is all that matters.

[pitviper51]

hmm.. may try the tow point. but this rig is set up so i dough he would change it.. its all fun.
mike

[RADRICH]

I didn't say rudder and elevator only. I said aileron and rudder only. Obviously, what you say is probably true if you can actually sit in the glider and and watch the plane and line in front of you. But when you're several hundred feet beneath it, you can't always tell if you're above or below the the tow plane and most of the time you can't see the line. Thus, my point was, no elevator till after release, let the tow plane elevate your glider instead.

	Quote: Originally Posted by RustyTumbles
	First of all towing a glider with rudder and elevator only is a bad idea, ailerons are the main control while on a tow. The glider pilot need to keep the wings level on the tow and let the tug pull it around the turns. Also its a good idea to stay just above the tug but not to high. When heading down wind keep a close eye on the tow line as some of the modern gliders may accelerate and start to over fly the tug creating slack in the line. This can be avoided by putting out just enough brake (if fitted to the glider) to keep the line tight. We will be towing some big scale gliders at my club in the next few weeks so I'll try and get some video and pics of it.

[RADRICH]

	Quote: Originally Posted by rpasznicki
	I've watched some glider pilots at a local club that do lots of tow launching. They prefer to use a giant aerobatic plane like a 100cc extra even on only average sized gliders that way they can climb really steep, almost vertical that way they don't have to make any turns making it easier for both pilots,just a straight line from take off to release. The extra can also handle coming down fast allowing them to launch six of more gliders in just a few minutes.

This is a great idea but not all 3-D boys want to rub elbows with glider boys if ya know what I mean.

[pitviper51]

	Quote: Originally Posted by RADRICH
	This is a great idea but not all 3-D boys want to rub elbows with glider boys if ya know what I mean.

whats that suppose to mean... look at what i fly.. hahah

[pitviper51]

well the club has made a few more tows, things getting better. the junky weather is closing in, so not sure how much good glider days will have.. but we are going to keep workign on the tow system.. meanwhile im gonna build my 2.6 m ventus this winter for next season.
mike