On Dec 2, 1:48*pm, Eric Greenwell wrote:
On 12/2/2010 11:45 AM, bildan wrote:



Very well done indeed. *I particularly liked the unique tow-out gear -
any idea who made that?

Mike

Don designed and built it. *IIRC, it's 2" PVC pipe, a toilet plunger
to protect the glider nose and rope down the middle with a Tost ring
set. *The stiff pipe prevents the glider from over running and
colliding with the tow out vehicle. *It eliminates the need for a tail
dolly and tow bar. *Very clever.

It works perfectly with the Grobs and probably any glider with the
aero tow hook in the point of the nose.

I'm guessing it's important the weight on the tailwheel be low, or at
least, don't tow it on pavement. The Grob tail weight is likely low,
because the main wheel is farther back than "tail dragger" gliders.

You could still tow a heavy tail glider around as shown, if you used a
tail dolly. A clever system.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarmhttp://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl
- "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation Mar/2004" Much of what
you need to know tinyurl.com/yfs7tnz

Again, IIRC, Don's G103 Twin II's are very light on the tailwheel when
unoccupied. I don't think they have ever had their booms repaired. I
was astonished how little effort was needed to lift the tailwheel.