Soaring – August 2019

http://www.ssa.org • August 2019 • Soaring 11

Whether real or imagined, this sce-
nario got me thinking about the wis-
dom of a procedure that allows the
pilots of two aircraft, in such imme-
diate proximity, to completely losing
sight of each other. The culmination
of that thought process is the pro-
cedure I now recommend for release
from aerotow.
• prior to release
o clear the airspace
o stabilize the glider in the normal
high-tow in-trail position
• pull the release
• bank right only as needed to avoid

the tug’s wake
• visually confirm the rope came off
the glider (Figure 6)

• maneuver as required to keep the
towplane in sight (Figure 7) until
completely satisfied the tug is no
longer a collision threat (Figure 8)

• stabilize and configure the glider

for cruising flight
• locate the airport
Note: Another reason to keep the
tug in sight: In the event you lose track
of the airport while aerotowing, guess
where the towplane is headed. Yup;
back to the airport.

Demonstration – Wings-Level

Aerotow (Cockpit view)

With the important aspects and

considerations of the aerotow visu-

ally implanted in the student’s brain

by way of the external view demon-

stration, it’s time to move inside the

cockpit.

I basically replay the same demon-

stration using Condor’s default cock-

pit view. In addition to reinforcing all

the important tow-related concepts

introduced in the first demonstration,

the cockpit view demonstration works

to establish important visual cues for

maintaining position on tow, includ-

ing the sight pictures that ensure the

glider stays safely (but not excessively)

above the wake and remains reason-

ably in-trail.

Having seen, from an external per-

spective, the proper, improper, and

dangerous positions on tow, the com-

mon error of chasing the towplane, the

elegant finesse of moving the glider

around on tow with complete control,

and the release procedure, the stu-

dent now has a context within which

to process the corresponding, if more

limited, visual cues available from the

cockpit.

Student Performance & Critique

Due to an anomaly too weird to

explain, I can’t use Condor’s Flight

School function to start an aerotow les-

son already in the air. Instead, I use

the Free Flight function to begin each

flight performance exercise with a full

takeoff. This isn’t all bad; it provides

students with more experience per-

forming takeoffs, a skill just recently

acquired in the previous lesson. In

fact, one could argue the aerotow be-

gins the instant the glider starts mov-

ing over the ground, or at least as the

glider lifts off and hugs the ground

waiting for the tug to fly. So there is

a measure of overlap between the two

procedures.

In any case, once both aircraft are off

the ground, I instruct the student to

establish a pitch attitude that holds the

bottom of the ASK-13’s yaw string on

an imaginary horizontal line through

the towplane’s tail wheel. In the climb

attitude, this results in the towplane’s

wheels appearing to be just above the

horizon and positions the glider above

the towplane’s wake. The imaginary

horizontal line concept helps students

maintain proper vertical positioning

even when the glider is laterally dis-

placed from the tug (Figure 9).

With the vertical positioning visual

cue established, instruction begins on

lateral position control, arguably the

more-challenging aspect of flying

on tow. The key to maintaining lat-

eral position on tow is matching the

glider’s bank angle (rate of turn) to

the tug’s bank angle, and while it is

relatively easy to determine the tug’s

bank angle by comparing its wings to

the horizon, determining the glider’s

bank angle is more difficult. I pause

the simulation at this point so the

student can focus their attention on

the following discussion.

With the tug in a wings-level atti-

tude, any lateral deviation from in-trail

is an indication the glider is banked

in the direction of the deviation. The

technique for correcting a lateral de-

viation is the two-step process men-

tioned earlier:

•    First, arrest  the deviation

•    Then,  reposition  the glider  in-trail

Interestingly, the key to maintaining

lateral position relative to the tug, in

simulation or in real life, is to “not look

directly at the towplane,” but instead

focus on the horizon. By focusing your

central vision on the horizon, the tug

falls into your peripheral vision, and it

is your peripheral vision that is opti-

mized to sense motion. With the tug

in your visual periphery, you will im-

mediately sense any deviation from

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9