Towplane pulls 4 gliders at once

flyingcheesehead

flyingcheesehead

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Tony: Is this real?

Towing%204.jpg


Kate insists it's photoshopped. It's on the for-sale page at http://www.wingsandwheels.com/want-ads10.htm which says it's a Zlin Z-37 T2. "1986, S/N 002 (only two were built), 600 TT, Tandem Cockpit, Walter 601Z Turboprop (520 shp). This is the premier tow plane used at the World Championship in Europe. Experimental Exhibition airworthiness certificate. Located in Morgan, UT."
 
I think Kate knows what she is talking about. There is no way you can get that off the ground without someone tangling a line along the way.
 
different rope lengths and tow positions up/down to keep the ropes from tangling. in the 80s our club used to do dual tows. one short one long rope, start the takeoff on different sides of the runway then once airborne get into a high tow/low tow position
 
OK, maybe it is possible. But don't ever ask ME to do that. Looks careless and reckless to me.
 
yea greg, not sure that id be volunteering for a 9-tow. i would maybe go for the dual tow if i really trusted the other glider pilot, maybe.

im pretty sure the army used to do dual tows of CG-4A's behind C-47's. Maybe Bob can verify.
 
Hmm I am suprised Tony hasn't mentioned putting a towhook on Teller's 1900 :rofl:

Pete
 
Formation gliding. Cool!

Actually seems like for experienced glider pilots it wouldn't be that hard. You've got four lines of different lengths and the #1 pilot takes the high point, #2 stays below #1 , and so forth.

When they break, they release in order of back to front...

Gutsy but very very cool looking.
 
while his recent posts about the incredible climb performance on the beech have been fun to read, he simply cant get that performance at a low enough speed to make it a good towplane. my vote for the ultimate mutliengine towplane is the Aeronca "Twin Champ" I understand it has pretty good climb on both engines, and if you lose one engine, you are going down, just like in the Super Cub :)
 
Greebo said:
Formation gliding. Cool!

Actually seems like for experienced glider pilots it wouldn't be that hard. You've got four lines of different lengths and the #1 pilot takes the high point, #2 stays below #1 , and so forth.

When they break, they release in order of back to front...

Gutsy but very very cool looking.
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im not sure that back to front would be the ideal release order. the only thing keeping that bottow rope down there is the glider thats pulling it down there. once he releases the rope is going to go up to trail directly behind the towplane. i think the top guy would want to release first. the tow is faster than normal gliding flight so there is a little energy there to do a slight climb, and of course you turn off to the side. that would provide some clearance from the other gliders. lateral spacing could also be achieved on tow. all other gliders except the one releasing go to one side etc. I think id want to be the first guy to release though. the ends of the rope tend to whip around a bit when there isnt a glider keeping tension in the line. id definitely be more interested in learning about how they pulled this off operationally
 
The aspect angles, shadows, and rudder/aileron positions are different on all four -- if it's Photoshopped, the person who did it is a truly expert forger.
 
tonycondon said:
im not sure that back to front would be the ideal release order. the only thing keeping that bottow rope down there is the glider thats pulling it down there. once he releases the rope is going to go up to trail directly behind the towplane.
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This seems contrary to the obvious direction the rope would take, to me.

I would think that, once released, the rope's own weight would cause it to fall downwards and trail behind the tow plane at an angle, not straight back.
 
the air moving about 60 mph around it will tend to have it trail along the flight path of the airplane. perhaps a little lower but we arent talking about really heavy rope here.

and after i thought about it alittle more having the top guy release first would be good cause his rope is shorter, so it cannot hit the other gliders, even if it does whip around in the wind.
 
True - having the short rope be loose first does make sense. If it winds around a longer rope, so what...
 
The thought of a rope break on one of the gliders in the middle is a bit scary. ALL pilots in this formation would really have to be on their toes.
 
Lance F said:
The thought of a rope break on one of the gliders in the middle is a bit scary. ALL pilots in this formation would really have to be on their toes.
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quite agreed, even one of them getting some slack in the line would be fairly complicated. an engine failure on the towplane would be disasterous.

I think i'd want to be the last guy. anything goes wrong a quick release and full airbrakes and everyone would be well in front of me.
 
tonycondon said:
while his recent posts about the incredible climb performance on the beech have been fun to read, he simply cant get that performance at a low enough speed to make it a good towplane. my vote for the ultimate mutliengine towplane is the Aeronca "Twin Champ" I understand it has pretty good climb on both engines, and if you lose one engine, you are going down, just like in the Super Cub :)
Click to expand...

We stall at about 84kts, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would want to keep one of these things below 120kts for any extended amount of time (as in any time between rotation and flare). If your glider can hold 120kts, though, we'll get you to 2K in 30-40 seconds. I'm willing to try it...but it might cost more than $20-something for the tow. :goofy:
 
Greebo said:
This seems contrary to the obvious direction the rope would take, to me.

I would think that, once released, the rope's own weight would cause it to fall downwards and trail behind the tow plane at an angle, not straight back.
Click to expand...

Having flown formation in a glider with the tow plane, off tow (thanks to Matt M and Tony for that one) I can tell you with certainty that the rope does hang down a little bit, but probably no more than 5-10 degrees below the flight path of the tow plane. That took Matt and I by surprise when we found ourselves floating closer and closer to the rope than we had anticipated. I'll see if I can't find some pictures of the rope's path in flight.
 
Teller1900 said:
We stall at about 84kts, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would want to keep one of these things below 120kts for any extended amount of time (as in any time between rotation and flare). If your glider can hold 120kts, though, we'll get you to 2K in 30-40 seconds. I'm willing to try it...but it might cost more than $20-something for the tow. :goofy:
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my max aerotow speed is somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 mph so that wont quite cut it.
 
lol i doubt it, would take a little more than duct tape :D
 
The towpilot is the guy with brass ones - he is the one taking all the risk here. I would have one hand on the release the entire time.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
The towpilot is the guy with brass ones - he is the one taking all the risk here. I would have one hand on the release the entire time.
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agreed dave, even moreso than usual. could cause some real commotion back there if they all got set free but oh well.
 
not to imply any natural distrust of the glider pilot, Tony. ;)
(but we do need a strong self-preservation instinct)
 
dont worry dave, i always have my finger on the release when I tow. you never know about those glider guys...
 
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