http://www.ssa.org • August 2019 • Soaring 33between the Cherokee and the Olive
Drab sedan, I rotated and off we went.
As I climbed out, I thought, better not
have a rope break because you are on
your own if you do, Mr. 1-26 guy.
We made it safely back to the Ozark
airport and promptly stashed the 1-26
in the back of one of the hangars. Al-
though, there is no way to know what
the MPs put in their report, or if they
even wrote one up – after all, the inter-
lopers did escape. We never did hear
anything from the powers that be at
Ft. Rucker, for which we were very
thankful.
During the ensuing years I’ve flown
gliders from a number of airport/
gliderports. If there was a towplane,
which of course there almost always
was, I ended up pulling gliders aloft
when I wasn’t being towed in one of
my own gliders, which started out
with a TG-3 and has led to my cur-
rent mount, a Discus 2b.
During my time as the tower chief
in Grand Junction, Colorado, our
group of glider guiders flew from the
Rifle Airport, where we used a 180
hp Super Cub we rented from Dieter
Bibbig, who owned Gliders of Aspen.
Like our current situation with the
Albuquerque Soaring Club, we had
fewer tow pilots than we would have
liked. On one nice summer day at
Rifle, I had towed up everyone on the
airfield but then had no way to fly my
glider. So, being the inventive type and
itching for some soaring time, I pulled
the mixture on the PA-18 to idle cut-
off, shut off the mags, and proceeded
to roll into a thermal below the 2-33 –
towrope and all. Yeah, the day was that
good. I even used more than one ther-
mal and kept the towplane up for over
an hour with the engine shut down.
These days I find myself in either the
Albuquerque Soaring Club’s Pawnee
or doing a bit of towing for Sundance
Aviation out at the Moriarty airport in
one of the three tugs available.
We have been very fortunate over
the last few years in that we have not
had any safety related issues which
have led to an untenable situation. As
the club’s chief tow pilot, I ask our pi-
lots to do the following: while await-
ing the signal from the wing runner,
to park the Pawnee at a right angle to
the runway so they can see the final
approach course. This makes the tow
pilot the last line of defense for de-
conflicting any traffic before entering
the runway. The last thing you should
do, I told them, is look at the tow re-
lease before adding power to remind
yourself what you need to reach for
should your tail be pulled up exces-
sively during takeoff. Next, add 5 mph
to the speed requested by the glider
pilot as towplanes always seem to in-
dicate about 5 miles per hour less than
the glider being towed.
After takeoff, fly the pitch which will
give you the desired airspeed and don’t
chase the ASI. If you pull up in lift,
once you exit said updraft, your speed
will be lower than what you have been
shooting for. It’s better to be a bit fast
and not pitch up in lift than to be too
slow when you exit it.
If the glider pilot transmits the fol-
lowing, “I’m off,” don’t assume he’s
talking to you. Check to make sure
the glider you are towing has in fact
released from your towplane and is
moving from left to right in one of the
mirrors. If you get a soft release, check
to ensure the glider you are towing is
no longer attached to the other end of
your towrope.
For the most part, towing gliders has
been an enjoyable experience. During
all these years, I’ve never had a reallyclose call while towing a glider. Been
jerked and pitched around a few times,
even almost upside down while mak-
ing wave tows. Had to abort a tow
once when I forgot to push the carb
heat knob back in. Shouted, “Abort,
abort, abort!” Worked like a charm and
the Grob I was towing let go. I’ve had
a mag fail while on tow and even had
the mag fall out of the accessory drive
portion of the engine. Threatened to
feed a guy the towrope if he didn’t set-
tle down and stay in position (he did
and I didn’t). All-in-all, it’s been well
worth it when towing a new student
as I watch, as well as feel, them im-
prove on each subsequent tow. Guess
I’ll keep on doing it as long as I can
cram myself into the cockpit and then
extract myself without assistance.Tom Knauff is an internationally well-known and
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to share with others his profound knowledge of
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of the sport of soaring flight. The foundation of a
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Order at http://www.eglider.org
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