For many years my last club regularly towed our 103 with a 150hp Super Cub without issues. Grass strip, not particularly long but no obstructions at either end. We only had to watch when the field was soft. That said, the climb out off the end of the runway was not very impressive. Good tow pilots learn to use finesse when hp is lacking. Things like lifting one wheel first to pick up speed, staying in ground effect as you accelerate and sometimes using flaps momentarily to pop the towplane off the ground when it just doesn’t want to break free!

My current club uses a 150 hp Citabria pulling at most a Puchacz (lighter than a 103) and a Perkoz. Again, no issues for the most part but marginal when the field is soft. I’ve done plenty of towing at both clubs and I would say the Super Cub does more with 150hp than the identically-powered Citabria so it is not just hp that matters.

As for tow pilot training in these circumstances, you just have to make sure the pilot is comfortable with his/her abilities. I have to admit that we have continued many tows on faith believing that we would eventually get off and clear the bushes or fences simply because we have always managed to do so. Any pilot flying by the numbers would in many cases have abandoned some of the tows we do! That said, we’re looking for a new towplane with more hp!

On Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 3:40:07 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Does anyone have experience with towing a Grob 103 or similar large 2-seat glider with a tow plane in the 160 HP class. Any specific experience details, lessons learned, or recommendations are appreciated. Did you do any testing prior to conducting training? If so, what was executed and logic for a testing progression, for instance. Does anyone propose environmental limits or runway length recommendations?

Asking because our 235 HP Pawnee is going to be offline for a while and we're investigating a lesser-powered Pawnee as a stand-in.