C-172 as tow plane?

On Saturday, April 20, 2013 9:08:55 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Saturday, April 20, 2013 8:08:12 PM UTC-4, WB wrote:

Owned a share of a C-175 (same airframe as 172), with 180 hp engine, droop tips, stol kit. It is a mediocre tug.







Was in a club that had a C-172, with 150 hp, climb prop. Not a good towplane.







When you hash out all the factors, it always comes down to three good choices for tugs:







Pawnee,



Pawnee,



Pawnee.



Add the Cessna AgWagon to the list. It is a Pawnee on steroids and has 300+HP - if you can't get air-born behind it, it wasn't meant to fly! ;-)

Add the Pawnee PA-36 "New Brave" 400HP. Tows like a rocket but can consume a significant fraction of an airport's AVGAS supply in a weekend. http://www.airliners.net/aircraft-da...ts.main?id=400

Add the Zlin Turbo Cmelak. Scariest tow I ever had with constant 8 m/s
climb rate. Went up like a rocket.

Used to tow in a C-172, 150hp, both regular and climb prop. This was in Georgia and North Carolina, hot humid days. Everything from Open Cirrus, Blanik, 1-26, 2-33, Libelle. No heavy 2-seat glass.

The regular 172 was OK for single seat. Not spectacular but not scary and you quickly learned to find a thermal and use it until the glider pilot got the hint and released.

Towing a loaded 2-33 on a hot afternoon was marginal to dangerous.

Modified with a climb prop made towing the two-seaters a little more comfortable. Still had to optimize the climb with judicious thermalling, but it wasn't scary anymore.

Now the problem was that you hit redline RPM at about 95 knots, so going crosscountry in the climb-prop equipped 172 became a bit of a chore!

But if it's all you have available, it's better than nothing.

Kirk
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