On Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 2:57:59 PM UTC-4, Charles Longley wrote:
Due to the type of towing we do. My club (Evergreen Soaring) is considering putting the Tost reel system in one of our Pawnee's.

I would like to hear everyone's experience on them pro or con. Not really looking for opinion from someone who hasn't operated with one.

Skyline Soaring has used one in its Pawnee for years, and is quite satisfied with it. We operate off a public mixed-use airport with a paved runway, to for us not having to drop/re-attach a poly rope is a bid advantage, as is the efficiency of the hookup and launch.

One other responded mentioned having to watch the cable come in so as to cut off the reel - ours has an automatic shutoff which is triggered by the excess tension on the cable when the glider-end slug hits the receiver. (The only problem we've had there is if the towpilot tries to retract the cable at high speed, where drag on the cable can trigger stopping the reel.)

Cable wear and tear is, of course, dramatically reduced by not dragging it around.

True, sometimes the reel jams, but it's a simple fix. It's also possible to tie a knot in the cable, near the glider end, if the release is made under too much tension, but that's hardly unique to the Tost system.

The standard reel comes with a 50 meter capacity, which I think is pretty common in Europe, but OUR pilots didn't like the "short" cable. So, we opted to purchase a larger capacity reel that can hold ca. 200' of cable. We also purchase the cable in bulk (cheaper) so we can cut it down into pieces. We religiously replace the cable at the Tost-recommended launch limit.

We've also been curious as to why we NEVER break one of the built-in weak links, carefully chosen to be the appropriate ones for the weights of the gliders we tow, while on several occasions we've broken the cable just as it enters the glider-end slug. (I think the cable flexes more at that point, possibly weakening it over time.)

More questions? Ask at jim at kellett dot com and I'll point you to the Club's chief CFI and chief Towpilot and Pawnee maintenance meister for more details . .