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#1
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we don't cut ours in half, we use the whole ball, drilling holes at the
"poles" to thread the safety link through, or higher up the rope above the "safety to rope" connection. The balls out here in the desert south west can last about 100 launches, landings are the roughest on it, dragging it over the ground at 60knts or less, we don't drop the rope on landing, but leave it attached to the tug and either back taxi if the landing was long, or just pull up for the next tow. What a difference a 5knt headwind makes on the landing distance required. BT "Mark James Boyd" wrote in message news:3fd4e9c8$1@darkstar... What is a wiffle ball made of and what size is it and how long do they last on the end of tow ropes? John Galloway It's a little hollow plastic ball about the size of an orange or softball which has a bunch of holes through it to make it even less aerodynamic. Kids buy them with a plastic bat and can hit the ball as hard as they want and it only goes about 5 feet (that's about 1.6 meters for you international chaps). Buy a set for your kids, and when they get tired of it, cut the balls in half and put them on the end of the tow rope. The bat is useless for the tow pilot, but I've seen instructors use them to help improve student progress ;-P They last I dunno, maybe hundreds of tows? I guess it depends on cement vs. dirt runways... |
#2
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John Galloway wrote in message ...
BT, What is a wiffle ball made of and what size is it and how long do they last on the end of tow ropes? Thanks, John Galloway At 04:18 08 December 2003, Btiz wrote: Why would a rope foul a glider tail plane unless it was a very slack line and back released.. We use a 'drag' device, wiffle balls, to help the tow rope 'fly higher' than with the weight of the Tost ring better clear the approach end fence, and to keep the rope from 'whipping' and tying itself in knots. Of course, I'm told, that the people in OZ fly 'low tow', below the prop wash, so on release.. I can see where the rope will 'ascend' and possible smack the canopy if released with any slack. I prefer to release at or very slightly above the tow planes altitude, always watching the rope drop away, even with the 'drag device'. BT hit the canopy When one exercise a correct release in either high or low tow the rops will not |
#3
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Mark,
Thanks. Sounds worthy of a trial. John Galloway At 21:24 08 December 2003, Mark James Boyd wrote: What is a wiffle ball made of and what size is it and how long do they last on the end of tow ropes? John Galloway It's a little hollow plastic ball about the size of an orange or softball which has a bunch of holes through it to make it even less aerodynamic. Kids buy them with a plastic bat and can hit the ball as hard as they want and it only goes about 5 feet (that's about 1.6 meters for you international chaps). Buy a set for your kids, and when they get tired of it, cut the balls in half and put them on the end of the tow rope. The bat is useless for the tow pilot, but I've seen instructors use them to help improve student progress ;-P They last I dunno, maybe hundreds of tows? I guess it depends on cement vs. dirt runways... |
#4
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John Galloway wrote in message ...
I have a vague recollection that a while back someone mentioned in passing that their club used a little drougue chute near the glider end of the aerotow rope to fly the rings higher during approach and landing. Does that ring any bells? If so I would appreciate some information - or did I just imagine it? You could use the wiffle balls, they are still manufactured, but here's what I've used when I ran out of wiffle balls; take your imported water bottle, like the 16oz size, not the liter size, and cut off the bottom half. Put the rope through the neck, and the tost rings will retract into the top of the bottle, preventing them from dragging down the runway. A proper water bottle will "fly" like the wiffle ball, and there's always a fresh supply around. Warn your friends with nose-pitot like libelle, no airspeed on tow. The ball or bottle will last forever on turf, one or two trips through the barbed wire fence, and for awhile on tarmac. There's also retractable towrope systems, with pros & cons. -Dan |
#5
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Bill,
The emphasis of the exercise being taught is that it is not necessary to turn away from the tug. All that is required is to gently decelerate the glider by gently climbing the glider as the tug will accelerate away. This was demonstrated by both Dave Bullock and Simon Adlard on assistant cat courses at Bicester some 3 years ago. The emphasis on turning is not always practical particularly if one has been towed close to a ridge e.g. both aircraft would require to turn away from the ridge - if the glider remains straight on course the tug turning away will result in divergence of both rope and glider. Suggest that if you want to discuss this further that you should contact either of the National Coaches to determine the exact reasoning for this teaching. SRE Scotland & Borders |
#6
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"John Smith" wrote in message ... Bill, The emphasis of the exercise being taught is that it is not necessary to turn away from the tug. All that is required is to gently decelerate the glider by gently climbing the glider as the tug will accelerate away. This was demonstrated by both Dave Bullock and Simon Adlard on assistant cat courses at Bicester some 3 years ago. The emphasis on turning is not always practical particularly if one has been towed close to a ridge e.g. both aircraft would require to turn away from the ridge - if the glider remains straight on course the tug turning away will result in divergence of both rope and glider. Suggest that if you want to discuss this further that you should contact either of the National Coaches to determine the exact reasoning for this teaching. SRE Scotland & Borders Thanks for this John. I was going to get in touch with the person on the course before replying to Bill's post. If this has been the recommended method for three years why hasn't it reached the rest of us? Our Chief Flying Instructor makes an effort to get recently qualified instructors to pass on what they have learnt, but there should be a more direct route than this. This isn't the only change to instructional technique that I have found out about on the grapevine. Why isn't there an instructors newsletter? Stephen |
#7
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"John Smith" wrote in message ... Bill, The emphasis of the exercise being taught is that it is not necessary to turn away from the tug. All that is required is to gently decelerate the glider by gently climbing the glider as the tug will accelerate away. This was demonstrated by both Dave Bullock and Simon Adlard on assistant cat courses at Bicester some 3 years ago. The emphasis on turning is not always practical particularly if one has been towed close to a ridge e.g. both aircraft would require to turn away from the ridge Other situations also come to mind, for example, traffic or cloud clearance issues may make a turn a bad option. Also it should be stressed that turns after a waveoff depend on the situation; first, it is important to allow the towplane the most direct path to the runway (assume that he really has an emergency) and second, the glider itself may not want to turn away from the runway if it was a low waveoff. Vaughn |
#8
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The release without turning is not a recommended method as such and does =
not replace a (climbing?) turn where local club rules require that the = glider turn in a specific direction after tow. The aim , I believe, is = to show that a highly banked and fast climbing turn is not required as = it is this scenario that causes tug upsets when the glider pilot has not = ensured that the tow rope has actually released prior to initiating the = turn. As a tug pilot myself I know which method of release that I would = prefer particularly if the rope hangs up on the glider. If the club = rules specify a particular direction of turn this may be due to the = position of the mirror on the tug or for other similar visibility = reasons. This exercise shows that after the rope is released a gentle = climb is all that is required to achieve separation. It can be combined = with a turn in either direction. |
#9
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We don't teach climbing turns on release because of setting up the habit of
slowing down after the release. If the rope breaks, you need that airspeed to make the turn back to the field. If you get in the habit of climbing, you will always climb and slow down. Fred |
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