We are a small club in Southern California, and we have been doing a lot of ELECTRIC aerotow with a 1/4 scale Cub. We use an Actro 40-4 motor on 10S4P using an 18" prop. I fly a Nimbus 4 that is 6 meters and a 1/3 scale Ventus that is 5 meters and we are able to tow it up, without all the noise and smell of gas engines. I am building a 1/4 scale, 96" Wilga with a Actro 60 motor on 12S4P with a 26" prop for more power on tow, but the electric Cub is great way to go for most 1/4 scale gliders.
We can not fly any gas driven planes at our flying site due to its location and our agreement with the City. While there is a big investment in batteries (LiPo's), the number of flights we get and they amount of recharges, we have defiantly got our money's worth. We went to the Visalia scale aerotow event and every one who saw it could not believe the performance and we number of tows we got. It's a great way to go! Jonathan -----Original Message----- From: Lee Estingoy [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 4:37 PM To: Tom Broeski; Ray Hayes; Bill Swingle; Soaring@airage.com Subject: Re: [RCSE] Aerotowing The Derstine page was a good start, although it was far from the last word on the topic. It represented his views and opinions. I think you all know the rest of that... Aerotowing is definitely enjoyable. You asked for parameters. Tugs should be large enough and powerful enough to be seen and haul the planes up. While we have successfully towed a 50 lb sailplane with a 50cc 1/4 scale Cub, we do not recommend that for all. The addition of larger engines to the tugs gives quite a bit of a safety margin to both ships. If the sailplane drags a wing tip and starts to pirouette on the ground, a larger/more powerful tug can pull through. A smaller setup would have difficulty. It is our belief here in KS, where we do a lot of aerotow, that a powerful launch is best. The goal is to get the team up high enough and with enough airspeed that, should the tow need to be aborted, the sailplane has a better chance to return to the field. Tug and glider pilot can both play a role in modulating the speed of the tow. I have ships that have easily overrun the tug. It was my fault, all I had to do was pull up on the sailplane to reduce it's speed. The tug pilot can also pull up to accomplish the same. Do not scrimp on the quality of the tow release SERVO. The release should be tested such that the line is released under significant load. The servo should have good torque, obviously digital is overkill. Use the servo arm wisely, put the release cable/wire at the shortest possible part of the arm, not the outside. You don't need much throw. It is critical that the two pilots communicate, especially when either is new or nervous. Do not hesitate to release if things get out of shape. Do not hesitate to tell the other guy to get off if things are either out of shape or too high for comfort. Interesting to note the comment about things coming full circle back to power. I'd like to offer that we have found that the tugs without mufflers, like those used at JR, are loud. It wears on you after a while. You don't notice the sound levels 'till they take a break and it is significant and unenjoyable. We have had great success in hushing our tugs using mufflers, prop choice and throttle management. Finally, smaller wheels on either the tug or the sailplane should be discouraged. If the sailplane is small, say 1/4 or less, the wheel will frequently not be tall enough for modest grass. Use a dolly. This is by far the most frequent cause of aerotow mishap. Please go to my half-developed web site. I have lots of pics and videos, and lots of self incriminating descriptions of mistakes made with aerotow ships. Please learn from them. www.kcse.us Lee Estingoy Kansas City Soaring and Electric Club and in a new twist, Consiglieri for Castle Creations, Inc. Yes, I now get paid to play with toys planes all day long. :) Off to AMA show tomorrow. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Broeski" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ray Hayes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Bill Swingle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <Soaring@airage.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 5:48 PM Subject: Re: [RCSE] Aerotowing >I find that Aerotow is easier than other types of launching. Sailplane >pilot keeps the wings level and the tow pilot does the rest. Heck, Johnny >Berlin took my plane straight up while he was doing rolls. My job was to >let him know when I was going to release. > > One thing I noticed is that towing takes some special talent. There are > occasions when tow pilots have a hard time keeping the right amount of > speed and the right amount of climb for some of the faster sailplanes. > Sometimes the sailplane can overtake the tow plane and make for some > exciting releases. Or, from what I've been told, some of us less > experienced sailplane pilots don't know when to use spoilers on tow. I > guess there are two ways to look at it. One is to just pull the plane > right up to release height the fastest way. The other is to make it more > realistic like the full scale with a slower steady climb. I don't know > which I like better yet. I do know that tow pilots like Johnny and others > make it seem easy. > T > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ray Hayes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Bill Swingle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > <Soaring@airage.com> > Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 6:21 PM > Subject: Re: [RCSE] Aerotowing > > >> This probably doesn't help Bill, but I can see the full circle now. Many >> sailplane clubs were off shoots of power clubs and with aerotowing >> becoming >> popular I can see the migration back to the power clubs. >> >> Aerotow is very similar to an ROG winch tow, but Aerotow for sure beats >> lugging the winch. >> >> >> Ray Hayes >> http://www.skybench.com >> Home of Wood Crafters >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Bill Swingle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <Soaring@airage.com> >> Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 6:00 PM >> Subject: Re: [RCSE] Aerotowing >> >> >>> Naturally, the Derstine page roughly titled >>> "What are the procedures for towing and what must the tow pilot and >>> sailplane pilot do during the tow?" >>> Interests me the most. Any one have a link to something similar? >>> >>> Bill Swingle >>> Janesville, CA >>> >>> >>> RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" >> and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note >> that >> subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with >> MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL >> are generally NOT in text format >>> >> >> >> RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" >> and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note >> that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format >> with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail >> and AOL are generally NOT in text format >> > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" > and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note > that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format > with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and > AOL are generally NOT in text format > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
