Where do new Tug Pilots come from?

On Friday, May 23, 2014 10:25:32 PM UTC-4, Bill T wrote:

His first three actual tows are with a glider instructor in our heaviest glider. Normal tow, beginning student wild tow and a controlled tow with box wake and slack line maneuvers, and a pattern tow.

I'm not a tow pilot. I wonder why you don't make the first tow easy and ramp up from there. Why not make the first tow with a 1-26 on a long runway?

On Friday, May 23, 2014 10:25:32 PM UTC-4, Bill T wrote:

Members who have at least Private Pilot ASEL and at least 200 hrs PIC and a glider rating may volunteer for tow training.

I have a glider rating only. One (apparently sane) two-seat-tail-dragger-owning top-shelf CFI offered to train me to be a tug pilot, including all the training for my power rating and my training as an actual tow pilot. I'd buy the fuel.

At the time, I was (and still am) too busy climbing the soaring proficiency learning curve.

That CFI would certainly know my capabilities very well before ever I got close to the Pawnee's stick. I guess he liked the idea of starting with a glider pilot. A clean slate. No habits or preconceptions.

This sounds like the approach used (naturally) at BRSS with JP Stewart and Colin Anderson... start with a solid glider pilot and add-on the other stuff.

On Friday, May 23, 2014 10:05:52 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Airline guy here. ~8000 tt, 25yrs of mostly un-logged time in family's J-3, seaplane, 10yrs glider, instr certs, etc.



Would enjoy to tow sometimes. Some of days off are spent where I'm based, but local club memberships have become expensive...

I agree that club fee structures might discourage an airline pilot from occasionally towing on his days off.

My favorite tug pilots are well rested, have towed gliders on all of the good weather days in the last two weeks (at least), have done thousands of tows at our rotor and sink afflicted, short field, tree-lined airport, and have towed lots of different good and poor-performing glider pilots in a variety of glider types.

That's the ideal (rare but possible) and of course I have to be willing to compromise. If I were writing a club policy, I'd try to encourage the journeyman pilots who were happy to tow (even with the CUs popping), and who were available to tow often and on a regular basis.

In our clubs case we require our tow pilots to join the SSA and that's it as far as out of pocket expenses for them providing they qualify with the insurance to fly our C-182A towplane. We have no requirement for them to pay the initiation or monthly dues. If they tow for a certain number of hours then they get an hour of time in the clubs L-23. Most of our tow pilots don't take us up on that offer. It seems to me that requiring tow pilots to pay the clubs monthly dues is a recipe for having not enough tow pilots.

We train ours.
Members who have at least Private Pilot ASEL and at least 200 hrs PIC and a glider rating may volunteer for tow training.
We have access to a C-170, before that it was a Scout or Citabria.
The tow candidate must pay his way to a tailwheel endorsement. Normally that means buy the fuel.
The tow candidate must invest some time to take the SSF tow pilot course, read the books, and study our tow ops manual.
We have to like the way he behaves on airport and how he flies gliders.
Instructor review of logbook, certificates, medical, aircraft POH and ops manual.
We tow with a Pawnee, if all above passes muster he gets some "simulated" tows in the C-170.
He get gets a cockpit check in the Pawnee and monitored while he completes at least 10 full stop landings.
His last three takeoffs are at reduced power to simulate the climb pitch angle and climb rate with a glider behind.
His first three actual tows are with a glider instructor in our heaviest glider. Normal tow, beginning student wild tow and a controlled tow with box wake and slack line maneuvers, and a pattern tow.
His first few days towing is monitored by other tow pilots and glider instructors.

BillT

____________________________________

Member dues (I'm assuming), pay for training, invest time and energy, simulation, pilot monitoring, fly for free... and on your schedule. That's it?
Where do I sign up!

Bill, you're perfect for airline mgmt. Oh wait, do I already work for you?

No offense meant of course, just for fun

Hunter

We train ours.
Members who have at least Private Pilot ASEL and at least 200 hrs PIC and a glider rating may volunteer for tow training.
We have access to a C-170, before that it was a Scout or Citabria.
The tow candidate must pay his way to a tailwheel endorsement. Normally that means buy the fuel.
The tow candidate must invest some time to take the SSF tow pilot course, read the books, and study our tow ops manual.
We have to like the way he behaves on airport and how he flies gliders.
Instructor review of logbook, certificates, medical, aircraft POH and ops manual.
We tow with a Pawnee, if all above passes muster he gets some "simulated" tows in the C-170.
He get gets a cockpit check in the Pawnee and monitored while he completes at least 10 full stop landings.
His last three takeoffs are at reduced power to simulate the climb pitch angle and climb rate with a glider behind.
His first three actual tows are with a glider instructor in our heaviest glider. Normal tow, beginning student wild tow and a controlled tow with box wake and slack line maneuvers, and a pattern tow.
His first few days towing is monitored by other tow pilots and glider instructors.

BillT

____________________________________

Min qualification, member dues (I'm assuming), pay for training, rigourous training course, simulation, reduced power (flex) takeoffs, pilot monitoring, fly for free... and on your schedule. That's it?
Where do I sign up!

Bill, you're perfect for airline mgmt. Oh wait, do I already work for you?

No offense meant of course, just for fun

Hunter

We train ours.
Members who have at least Private Pilot ASEL and at least 200 hrs PIC and a glider rating may volunteer for tow training.
We have access to a C-170, before that it was a Scout or Citabria.
The tow candidate must pay his way to a tailwheel endorsement. Normally that means buy the fuel.
The tow candidate must invest some time to take the SSF tow pilot course, read the books, and study our tow ops manual.
We have to like the way he behaves on airport and how he flies gliders.
Instructor review of logbook, certificates, medical, aircraft POH and ops manual.
We tow with a Pawnee, if all above passes muster he gets some "simulated" tows in the C-170.
He get gets a cockpit check in the Pawnee and monitored while he completes at least 10 full stop landings.
His last three takeoffs are at reduced power to simulate the climb pitch angle and climb rate with a glider behind.
His first three actual tows are with a glider instructor in our heaviest glider. Normal tow, beginning student wild tow and a controlled tow with box wake and slack line maneuvers, and a pattern tow.
His first few days towing is monitored by other tow pilots and glider instructors.

BillT

____________________________________

Min qualification, member dues (I'm assuming), pay for training, rigourous training course, simulation, reduced power (flex) takeoffs, pilot monitoring, fly for free, held to high standards,... and on your schedule. That's it?
Where do I sign up!

Bill, you're perfect for airline mgmt. Oh wait, do I already work for you?

No offense meant of course, just for fun

Hunter

We have an open pilot policy with our insurance. Because of our training program and monitoring, low time pilots do not have to be "named" pilots on our policy.
Previously it required 200 hrs power, 100hrs tailwheel and 25 hrs Pawnee to qualify on the open policy. Try to find pilots with previous Pawnee time, not many around, so all new pilots were "named" until they for 100hrs tailwheel and 25 hrs Pawnee. Now we don't have to do that.

You have to run a club like a business. I liked your comments about airline mgmt, I'm not one, but AF trained.
BillT

The Pawnee does not even know a 1-26 is in tow. It would be a wasted flight.
BillT

On Thursday, May 22, 2014 11:06:48 AM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
Where do new Tug Pilots come from?

Storks!