On Mar 8, 10:03*am, Brad wrote:
I know this has come up before in RAS. But thought I would bring up
the subject again.

For a club looking at long term projections, which at some point will
include either sticking a "new" engine on a Pawnee or getting rid of
it, does it make sense to start evaluating getting a 2 place
motorglider to serve as a tug and also as a touring/training tool?

Can a MG tug pull a loaded 2 place Blanik on a standard day at SL,
from a 1800' grass strip? Or perhaps such a tug could be used to tow
the members single place ships, and the heavier/ 2-place ships stow
behind the clubs remaining pawnee?

We are blessed with 3 towplanes in our club, there are upcoming
factors that will/are causing us to look at several different
scenarios and am wondering if tossing a MG into the mix might be one
such solution.

Brad

I recently flew a Lambada and was very impressed with it's take off
and climb performance. We didn't tow any gliders so I can't report on
that. I flew the 80 HP version. We were at sea level, two 200+lbs
guys and only 80 HP, takeoff and climb performance seemed to be better
than a Super Cub. The 80 HP version isn't used for towing but the 100
HP version is. It is reported to have about as good as a 150 HP Super
Cub performance in towing. The Lambada soared pretty well, I was
really impressed. The L/D is claimed to be about 30/1 and that seemed
about right while gliding between thermals. It's a well thought out
little machine.
Check out Urban Air USA. My demo ride was with the very sailplane
experienced pilot Jim Lee. Great guy and a great team.

good luck,
Dan