Towing Gliders

Tom-D

Tom-D

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Tom-D
Any money in doing it? How much is a tow, to how high?
 
Small glider club here in E TN I've looked into before. If I recall correctly it was $20 to hook up and then $1.50/per 100ft of towing.

Cheap way to fly that's for sure, but never have pursued it.
 
In my former club, towpilots are members and don't get any reimbursement other than logging hours. Tows typically were in the $20 range for the first thousand feet and another $5 or so for every additional 500 or 1000. It's been a while, but I think those were the numbers, they are probably pretty close. Basically, it covered expenses and not much else. Typical release altitudes are 2000 to 3000 AGL. Students generally release around 1000 for pattern work, or 200-500 for simulated rope breaks. For students doing 6-8 flights a day, it can add up. A slow day for a towpilot would be one tow, a busy day might be 20 to 30. Most I did in one day was somewhere between 10 and 15. When it's 100F+ and you are doing nothing but tows, over and over and over, it can be a long day.
 
denverpilot said:
Already asked and answered in the other thread. LOL.

Every time the local glider outfit seems to get ahead in their numbers in the bank, they wreck something and insurance goes up or they have to self-insure for a while. And the money disappears like magic. So they make money for a little while... the tow planes are the necessary evil expense. The gliders make the money.
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I asked from the tow plane pilot point of view. can you make a few bucks over operating expenses ?
 
Tom-D said:
I asked from the tow plane pilot point of view. can you make a few bucks over operating expenses ?
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Sorry didn't see the difference.

Okay. Tow pilots. The club gets them nearly for free as long as they provide the airplanes for them to break. Haha.

No shortage of people wanting hours who'll fly for peanuts.

Many clubs give glider time in $100,000 glass ships, in lieu of cash payment for towing.
 
Tom-D said:
I asked from the tow plane pilot point of view. can you make a few bucks over operating expenses ?
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As pointed out above: most tows are going to be in the $25-$35 range, and expect around 15-20 per weekend when things are reasonably busy. You can check with the club and ask about the number of tows per day they average. But some clubs require the towpilot to be a member for insurance reasons, and many times those clubs won't pay the towpilot directly anyway. If you are providing your own airplane, you'll have to verify your own insurance, but you can set whatever tow rates you want.
 
Typical commercial school will charge $50ish for a 2000 ft tow. Contests charge at least $55 I think. If you're trying to make money as a towpilot your best bet might be to try to follow the contest circuit within a reasonable ferry distance. You'll want a fairly powerful towplane for this in the west. But you'll get ferry Costs and lodging covered plus tow fees at a contest.

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tonycondon said:
Typical commercial school will charge $50ish for a 2000 ft tow. Contests charge at least $55 I think. If you're trying to make money as a towpilot your best bet might be to try to follow the contest circuit within a reasonable ferry distance. You'll want a fairly powerful towplane for this in the west. But you'll get ferry Costs and lodging covered plus tow fees at a contest.

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Problem is, most high horse power tow planes are high maintenance. = high parts prices.
 
Matthew said:
But some clubs require the towpilot to be a member for insurance reasons...
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Virtually guaranteed considering there's only one insurance underwriter who'll cover glider ops, and you must be an SSA member / club to get it. SSA says everyone in the club must be a member.

How the club handles membership to themselves as an organization is up to them, but many have painted themselves into a corner with their own by-laws and forgot to make a carve out for tow-only pilots.

Details, details. Always about the details.
 
The Dragonfly was originally designed to use a Rotax 582, I think that Wallaby Ranch still uses that powerplant. Lookout Mountain Flight Park uses Rotax 912s in their Dragonflys.

Quite a few years ago, my father and I visited a gliderport in central Florida that was using a J-3 as a towplane. I'm pretty sure that one had a C-85 or a C-90 installed. It definitely didn't have a starter, and the lady who was flying it asked my dad to prop it for her. They were a commercial operation and she was towing Schweitzer 2-22s with that setup.

It seems like the Piper Pawnee has become a popular towplane. I have to think that an unladen Pawnee has a pretty decent rate of climb.
 
Tom-D said:
Problem is, most high horse power tow planes are high maintenance. = high parts prices.
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Not really, Piper Pawnee with an O-540 with a fixed pitch prop is the best tow plane going. Tube and fabric, easy to maintain. $50K-$65K purchase price depending on the engine.

We plan on avg 12gph during tow operations. Club operation. Most tows are to 2K AGL in summer, 3-4K in winter.
Avgerage "commercial" rate is as Tony mentioned, $50-$55 to about 3K or less. A good operator can get about 5 tows per tach hour. It depends on how quick you can get back down and how efficient your ground crew is.

Consider cost of paying a Pilot, unless you are in it for yourself. Cost of tow rope and rings, depending on how much you tow, about $300/yr. Tow rings are expensive, rope is cheap.
 
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