On Sunday, June 6, 2021 at 11:51:18 AM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
Real men fly tail draggers!

Oh, what I really meant was, at least for high altitudes, I wouldn't tow
behind a 100 hp tug. My gut tells me that the pawnee 260 has more
excess horse power than the Virus and, as a former owner of a Sinus,
basically the same airplane but with a longer wing (and a tail wheel),
and a former tuggie with a lot of tows in several tow Planes, I think
the Pawnee out climbed the Sinus.

Gotta agree with the cost angle, however, but mine was Experimental and,
without looking at the regs, I'd bet that it could not be used for
commercial tows, I vote for winches.

Dan
5J
On 6/5/21 8:27 PM, 2G wrote:
On Saturday, June 5, 2021 at 7:01:59 PM UTC-7, 2G wrote:
On Saturday, June 5, 2021 at 6:20:02 PM UTC-7, 2G wrote:
On Saturday, June 5, 2021 at 7:12:32 AM UTC-7, bumper wrote:
On Friday, June 4, 2021 at 6:11:38 PM UTC-7, 2G wrote:
What about the Pipistrel Virus?
https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/a...-121/#tab-id-3
Tom
With 100 hp, and no turbo, it'll be a long, slow slog at higher altitude airports.

Surprised no one has mentioned the Husky. With 180 hp, I've towed single place out of Minden no problem, a 2 place with "full size" pilots is doable but unimpressive compared to the Pawnee. I've only done that once to rescue a friend's land-out.

bumper
A lot of airports in the US are near sea level - only the western US high deserts have high altitude airports.

Tom
Also, horsepower doesn't tell the whole story. What matters is the excess horsepower available to lift the glider. The Virus is much lighter than other traditional towplanes, so more of its horsepower is available for this purpose. Likewise, wing efficiency comes into play as well. A more efficient wing means less drag for the towplane. Here is an actual side-by-side comparison:
https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/v...-championship/

Tom
Another factor is cost. I estimate that in the US the Virus can save around $8.25 per tow in fuel costs. For a club that does 250 tows per year that is $2,000, more if you count retrieves.

You also can find more towpilots that don't have a taildragger endorsement.

Tom
I think the article that I posted a link to indicated that the traditional towplanes did have a faster climb rate than the Virus, but not that much faster. And the original poster indicated that Pawnees are difficult to find.

Tom