On Monday, 20 January 2020 06:37:06 UTC-7, wrote:
On Sunday, January 19, 2020 at 9:20:04 AM UTC-5, Ron Gleason wrote:
On Saturday, 18 January 2020 22:30:51 UTC-7, wrote:
What's the lowest power tow plane you've ever seen or towed by? An Examiner of mine said his was a C150 with 100hp. I also once saw paperwork for an 85hp Luscombe to tow.

Dragonfly Ultralight used to tow hang gliders, equipped with Rotax 914S.. Towed my DG303 at Big SPring TX during the 2008 HG worlds so we could assist the organizers with spotting 'cloud flyers' amongst the competitors.

Many gliders have been towed out of Sheets airport, north of Seminole, when they landed short getting back to Seminole.

We have a turbo Dragonfly at our place. Lots of power but a slow airplane.. How fast was your tow speed behind the Dragonfly?
UH

I believe I lifted off the runway around 50 MPH and we towed between 48-55 MPH. The maximum speed of a Dragonfly is around 62 MPH according to the designer Bobbie Ballie due to the airfoil and all the drag.

Used lots of runway ~2,000 ft, the Dragonfly takes off within 100 feet of TO roll so the tow pilot has to stay low as speed increases. Glider pilot has to be patient to stay on the ground till desired speed and yes you are looking up at the Dragonfly. I kept low tow position for maximum visibility and to 'follow' the Dragonfly as it moved around.

Yes the Dragonfly is very lite weight and it is easy to disrupt it. The conditions at Big Spring are strong thermic so yes I threw the Dragonfly around a few times. Plus we only towed to 1,500 AGL as conditions were quite good to get away.

The Dragonfly pilot was Russell Brown, IMHO one of the top 5 Dragonfly pilots and mechanics in the world so I had confidence there.

Other folks have used the Dragonfly as a tow ship, Gary Osaba in Zapata TX towed a Silent, Sparrowhawk and others. In Zapata we accomplished dual HG tows with the Dragonfly and I believe a few triple tows to 3,000 AGL.

I would not try this at higher elevations with high density altitudes.