Twinstar + Dragonette + short towline = SCARY!
One day at our slope, there wasn't enough lift for anything to fly for
very long,except a twinstar. I got tired of throwing my Dragonette into the
air and having it fall from the sky. There were a lot of guys at the hill
that day that didn't have anything that would fly. You get the picture.
Pretty soon someone had the great idea of Chris Whynaught (his real name, I
swear) aerotowing my Dragonette with his Twinstar. I wouldn't exactly say
that an angry mob appeared, but real soon, my Dragonette was outfitted with a
paper clip tow hook and was attached to Chris's Twinstar with about ten feet
of kite string and a little ring to release from. Two nuckleheads ( I forget
who) held the planes and ran with them, to get up to speed so the line
wouldn't break, and tried to release at the same time. After three tries we
got them airborne.With the Dragonette low, things seemed o.k., a scale
sailplane flyer told me I had to fly higher than the towplane. When I flew
through the propwash, there was no doubt as to what was happening, the word
"Maytag" comes to mind. This was definitely a durability testament for the
Dragonette. I managed to get off tow, and glide back, in one piece. The
second time, my Dragonette was virtually thrown from tow,or maybe the ring
just slides off easier when your inverted and flying backwards, anyway that
was enough for me. I know others who have since done this, with alot more
success. A little longer towline too! The lesson learned? Probably not!
:-) Anyway it was something to do, and the planes survived.
You never know what you can get away with until you try.
Tom Ramirez
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