Vortex Generators on 182 tow plane???

Thanks everybody for the useful information.

As with everything...there are pros and cons.

In our case I feel the pros out weigh the cons by quite a bit.

We have been towing since mid June with this particular plane...no signs of overheating problems on 95F days. Yes going slower may cause heating issues...but I think we can deal with this.

That Canadian POH is an impressive manual! Not really our aircraft however....we are only 230 HP and carburetor. We have several old timers who are totally capable of testing and generating the V speeds with VG's.

Yes we purchased the 182 for the reasons you said below...It is fairly idiot proof...opens up our ability to get and train tow pilots. Spoiled by towing behind a 260 Pawnee...At first we had to "adapt" to a slightly flatter climb angle and climb rate, longer ground roll etc. Nothing too far out of the realm of reasonable though. As the weather cooled we are getting nice climb rates.

Typical of a club...we have those strongly in favor of putting on the VG's....and those strongly opposed...and many indifferent. But for now the TOWPILOTS votes are 2 for and one against! We'll see what happens

Thanks again,


Cookie





On Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 2:54:24 PM UTC-4, Nick Kennedy wrote:
https://microaero.com/how-do-micro-vgs-work/

I've flown 2 C182's with and without micro generators.
I think they are well worth the money if your towing in challenging conditions.
The kit is about $1450.00 + installation which shouldn't be too much.
What George Haeh wrote is correct in my experience, the possible overheating problem towing at lower airspeeds. But if getting off the ground earlier and slower, safely, is the goal I think these things are well worth it. And pretty cheap. And they don't effect the cruise speed, the only down side is I think it makes washing and waxing the plane more difficult.

Many years ago here in Telluride we leased a C182 for a tow plane as ours was down for a new engine. Even with two oil coolers, it ran hot, we were always hitting the redline in CHT and Oil temp.
That said the C182 is great well balanced fairly idiot proof airplane, stock, as it tows OK and makes for a real XC airplane with long legs and a 160 MPH cruise speed. And you can pick up beaters cheap.
If I owned one and towed with it I'd put the VG generators on it in a heartbeat. Just makes it safer.

I can’t speak directly to the 182 issue regarding vg’s. However I operate a Cessna 172XP (210hp) and when I purchased it the airplane was stock. I installed the sportsman stol kit which is a leading edge cuff and gap seals on the ailerons. We didn’t loose any cruise performance and the slow flight performance is so much better. Towing performance is much better with a substantially shorter takeoff roll and we can tow Schweizer’s as slow as we care too. Aileron authority is much better since adding the kit.

Having flown airplanes with vg’s I can attest to the fact that they certainly have a positive effect in performance and handling.

These improvements to slow speed handling not only improve the towing performance but also increases safety for the towpilot in normal and emergency situations.