On Thursday, August 21, 2014 11:35:59 AM UTC-4, kirk.stant wrote:
I realize this has been hashed over in the past, but looking for a fresh discussion on the relative merits of these three towplanes.



Specifically, how does a stock Bird Dog compare to a 235 Pawnee, and how do various Maules do as towplanes.



Our club is considering various options for adding to our towplane fleet and any info/personal experiences/good stories would be appreciated.



Kirk

66

Birddog is expensive, charismatic, fun to fly and has some maintenance bugaboos that can get expensive (electric flaps fail regularly, ours has manual flaps and they've caused problems too!). It does tow well. The back seat isn't nearly as useful for towing checkouts as you might think -- sit in the back and you'll understand why!

Pawnee is generally a better work horse, easier to fly, cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain.

Also consider Callair.

Evan Ludeman