Drop the Tow Rope

[Ray Lovinggood]

Stewart asked why some operations drop the tow rope.
We do because of two reasons:

1. We want to reduce wear and tear on the rope by
not dragging it on the paved runway. Yes, the tuggie
does drop the rope onto the paved runway, but that
doesn't seem to cause undue wear and tear.

2. Sometimes (most?), the tuggie must taxi to the
parallel taxiway to make his way back to the staging
area rather than turn around on the runway and back-taxi.
The tow rope could then get caught in the runway and
taxiway lights as the tug makes his way around the
airport. Possibly.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

[BTIZ]

-we keep the rope...
-we have no obstructions on short approach so the tuggie can land at the
threshold
-gliders stage from about the 600ft point from the arrival threshold
-most gliders stage beside the runway and can launch on the angle thus
glider is ready before tug lands beside him
-in most situations (except extreme calm winds) the tuggie can get down and
stopped in 900ft (700ft from threshold plus apx 200ft of rope) no back taxi
required in most cases (5 to 10 knt headwind makes a lot of difference on
short landing) (PA-25-250 Piper Pawnee)
-we have no lights on the side or at the threshold to bother the tuggie or
the rope
-we get about 3 to 4 months of weekend work (appx 600 to 800 tows on average
(25 per day x 8 weekend days per month x 3 to 4 months)) per rope
-we get 3 ropes at 200ft length out of one 600ft spool for about $80 (apx 3
to 4 cents cost per tow based on averages) (3 ply 7/16ths poly)
-less damage to rope dragging on paved runway than on gravel/dirt on the
approach
-more time spent retrieving and reconnecting rope than it takes to launch
the glider

BT

"Ray Lovinggood" > wrote in message
...
> Stewart asked why some operations drop the tow rope.
> We do because of two reasons:
>
> 1. We want to reduce wear and tear on the rope by
> not dragging it on the paved runway. Yes, the tuggie
> does drop the rope onto the paved runway, but that
> doesn't seem to cause undue wear and tear.
>
> 2. Sometimes (most?), the tuggie must taxi to the
> parallel taxiway to make his way back to the staging
> area rather than turn around on the runway and back-taxi.
> The tow rope could then get caught in the runway and
> taxiway lights as the tug makes his way around the
> airport. Possibly.
>
> Ray Lovinggood
> Carrboro, North Carolina, USA
>
>
>

[snoop]

Somewhere in the tow rope discussion someone mentioned that their
operation will attach the weak link end of the rope to the tow plane. I
believe that was to minimize wear.

As one who knits up the ropes for our operation, I really like the idea
of saving wear and tear on that highly intricate end of the tow rope. I
would much rather braid up the end without the wink link. The weak link
end takes a lot of time.

But one question comes to mind. How does the group feel about receiving
the whole rope at the glider end, in the event of a rope break.

Thanks,
Snoop

[Mel Dawson]

At 16:18 30 October 2005, Snoop wrote:
>Somewhere in the tow rope discussion someone mentioned
>that their
>operation will attach the weak link end of the rope
>to the tow plane. I
>believe that was to minimize wear.
>
>As one who knits up the ropes for our operation, I
>really like the idea
>of saving wear and tear on that highly intricate end
>of the tow rope. I
>would much rather braid up the end without the wink
>link. The weak link
>end takes a lot of time.
>
>But one question comes to mind. How does the group
>feel about receiving
>the whole rope at the glider end, in the event of a
>rope break.
>
>Thanks,
>Snoop
>I think you are wrong with the reason for having the
>weak link at the tug end, If the rope snags anything
during the operation it is far better to have the rope
or weak link break than pulling the back end off the
tug or stopping it in flight :)
>

[Andreas Maurer]

On 30 Oct 2005 08:12:55 -0800, "snoop" > wrote:


>But one question comes to mind. How does the group feel about receiving
>the whole rope at the glider end, in the event of a rope break.

Not good.
That's the cause why the German gliding operation manual *strictly*
dictates to have the weak link at the glider side of the tow rope.


Bye
Andreas

[Don Johnstone]

At 12:06 31 October 2005, Andreas Maurer wrote:
>On 30 Oct 2005 08:12:55 -0800, 'snoop' wrote:
>
>
>>But one question comes to mind. How does the group
>>feel about receiving
>>the whole rope at the glider end, in the event of a
>>rope break.
>
>Not good.


>That's the cause why the German gliding operation manual
>*strictly*
>dictates to have the weak link at the glider side of
>the tow rope.
Or put a weak link at both ends to protect tug and
glider on the launch and protect the tug from a rope
catch on approach
>
>Bye
>Andreas
>

[Bert Willing]

There is a very large part of operations in Europe where you don't drop any
ropes anymore, but reel them in. Almost as time-efficient as having a tow
rope for each glider. Plus, you can have the weaklink on the glider's end
without having Darwin de-selecting the tug pilots who are low on short
final.

--
Bert Willing

ASW20 "TW"


"Don Johnstone" > a écrit
dans le message de news: ...
> At 12:06 31 October 2005, Andreas Maurer wrote:
>>On 30 Oct 2005 08:12:55 -0800, 'snoop' wrote:
>>
>>
>>>But one question comes to mind. How does the group
>>>feel about receiving
>>>the whole rope at the glider end, in the event of a
>>>rope break.
>>
>>Not good.
>
>
>>That's the cause why the German gliding operation manual
>>*strictly*
>>dictates to have the weak link at the glider side of
>>the tow rope.
> Or put a weak link at both ends to protect tug and
> glider on the launch and protect the tug from a rope
> catch on approach
>>
>>Bye
>>Andreas
>>
>
>
>

[J.A.M.]

Not critical.
Ropes are soft.
My opinion. And yes, it happened to me.
Landed with it, stepped on it with the wheel, the rope broke and still
retained the ring (expensive...)

"Andreas Maurer" > escribió en el mensaje
...
> On 30 Oct 2005 08:12:55 -0800, "snoop" > wrote:
>
>
> >But one question comes to mind. How does the group feel about receiving
> >the whole rope at the glider end, in the event of a rope break.
>
> Not good.
> That's the cause why the German gliding operation manual *strictly*
> dictates to have the weak link at the glider side of the tow rope.
>
>
> Bye
> Andreas