Tow rope musings - informal survey

On Wednesday, February 27, 2019 at 7:05:39 AM UTC-8, Tony wrote:
Have you seen Lithuanian cars and trailers?

I can't speak for Lithuanian cars, but I did take a good look at the LAK glider trailers, and I was very impressed with the quality. I think they're probably the equivalent of a Cobra.

Since the MiniLAK I purchased comes with a trailer, I'll probably have a better opinion later this year when I've towed the beast back from Texas.

I read somewhere (old Soaring?) about extremely short (as in a couple of meters) tow ropes being used to aero retrieve out of dusty, plowed fields; the idea is that you are so close to the tow plane you can't get out of position, and close enough to see the towplane in the dust kicked up by the launch!

Having done a couple of IFR takeoffs 200 ft behind a Pawnee out of western US dirt strips, I can see the appeal of it!

Kirk
66

IFR.....= I Follow Rope?

LOL......

I've owned both Cobra and LAK trailers.Â* My opinion is that they're
pretty close to equal.Â* Given the choice, I'd go with the less
expensive, most likely the LAK.

On 2/28/2019 10:53 AM, Matt Herron (Sr) wrote:
On Wednesday, February 27, 2019 at 7:05:39 AM UTC-8, Tony wrote:
Have you seen Lithuanian cars and trailers?
I can't speak for Lithuanian cars, but I did take a good look at the LAK glider trailers, and I was very impressed with the quality. I think they're probably the equivalent of a Cobra.

Since the MiniLAK I purchased comes with a trailer, I'll probably have a better opinion later this year when I've towed the beast back from Texas.


--
Dan, 5J

On Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 8:05:21 AM UTC-5, Tango Eight wrote:
On Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 2:11:34 AM UTC-5, wrote:
I make our tow ropes about 210' long, out of 3/8" hollow-braid poly (bought through W&W because for some reason the local businesses that sell rope around here consider it a waste of time to sell us four 1,000' spools of rope, prepaid). The ropes are used for one season maximum. We are on a nice, lush grass field and the ropes seldom need to have the ends cut and remade from abrasion. Any rope that looks suspect gets taken out of service. When we have an away trip to a paved field I take the rope that was used for towing there out of service when it returns because by then the combination of the wear it has received during flying at ho,e combined with the wear on the paved runway make it questionable enough that I would rather replace it. We have a set of weak links for the gliders we tow (club and private both Tost and Schweizer rings). The L-19 towplanes have Tost hooks.

PM sent. Interested in your L-19 Tost hook installation.

best,
Evan

" is likely a throw away email address. Any idea who this is? I'm very keen to find someone with a decently engineered and 337'ed tost hook installation for L-19.

-Evan

You may "see" the appeal of it, but believe me, actually seeing the tug almost on top of you is far less appealing. It's a handful!

Having done a couple of IFR takeoffs 200 ft behind a Pawnee out of western US dirt strips, I can see the appeal of it!

Kirk
66

On Saturday, March 2, 2019 at 11:03:29 AM UTC-6, Matt Herron (Sr) wrote:
You may "see" the appeal of it, but believe me, actually seeing the tug almost on top of you is far less appealing. It's a handful!

I respectfully disagree - close formation is no big deal (true, I have a military background) but taking off in a zero-visibility dust cloud, where you can't see the towplane, tow rope, ground, horizon, anything - now that is exciting!

All you can do is wait until you have flying speed and pull up out of the dust, hoping your wings are level the whole time...

Cheers,

Kirk
66

IFR in dust..... peek alternately at your wingtips. If you learn to use your neck vertebrae in general to turn your personal nose, and leave the glider nose on track, you will find you can see LATERALLY quite well and keep tips level. There will be naysayers this heresy, but my students can do this. When they subsequently hear tales of 'thought I was gonna die', they slant eyeballs to me, and grin. This works for knowing level on takeoffs. It also works for peeking at tips on landings. It allows us to know how low you can place that windward tip toward earth on honking crosswind landings, or taxiing tips over obstructions. Oh....this was about ropes. 215' of hollowbraid 3/8 poly on dirt/pavement. We put both style rings on the glider end, no adapter chasing hunting. Retire after one end has been shortened maybe twice. Subjective retirement....I know. No unscheduled failures.

Im with Cindy, Ive done at least dozen ifr retrieves over the years and keeping wings level was never the issue, and following the towplane, well thats IFR, I follow rope. Just like the yawstring small early corrections and as soon as your flying pop up to 20' feet and voila there is the towplane! On a 200' rope your not hurting the tuggie at 20'!

CH

On Monday, February 25, 2019 at 7:47:42 PM UTC-5, son_of_flubber wrote:
What is the initial new length of the tow ropes that you use?

Assuming that you cut off the worn portion near the ring and gradually shorten the rope, when does the rope get too short to use? How often do you measure the rope?

Do you usually discard used ropes because of visible wear, reduced length, or a fixed number of tows?

What is the breaking strength of your tow rope when new?

Some gliders are heavier and some are lighter. Do you use weak links as recommended by the individual glider's POH?

Answering as an individual pilot you prefer a tow rope that is at the weak or strong end of the acceptable range?

Is it true that some people have used (and continue to use) 'unbreakable' tow ropes? How does that work out?

What ever happened to the idea of attaching a plastic funnel to the
glider end. When I was a CTP, this was introduced for two rreasons.
1. It holds the end maybe 10-15 ft higher over the trees/road.
2. it eliminates wear at the ring .

3. It will be nixed by the finance dept. owing to the high cost
of funnels.

I know when I'm beaten.
JMF