Where do new Tug Pilots come from?

I tow behind several excellent tug pilots in their 70's, one who is 84, and several 'young' tug pilots who are in their 50s.

Where is the next generation of Tug Pilots? Do pilots suddenly take up towing gliders in their 50's-60's? (perhaps when they retire from the military?)

We've got a 22 year old that went to Embry-Riddle.

Boggs

We have several that are fresh out of their teens.

Where is the next generation of Tug Pilots? Do pilots suddenly take up towing gliders in their 50's-60's? (perhaps when they retire from the military?)

We had to get a Husky. One of many reasons for doing so was so we could do checkouts and training and get some guys good enough with tail-draggers. We had enough guys who already were commercial ASEL with no tail-dragger time.

Before we got the Husky, it's damned near impossible to find somebody with a commercial rating and taildragger endorsement, and be willing to tow on the good soaring days.

A Aviat Husky is a two seat tail dragger suitable for tugging.

On Thursday, May 22, 2014 1:55:14 PM UTC-4, Piet Barber wrote:

We had to get a Husky. One of many reasons for doing so was so we could do checkouts and training and get some guys good enough with tail-draggers. We had enough guys who already were commercial ASEL with no tail-dragger time.

Before we got the Husky, it's damned near impossible to find somebody with a commercial rating and taildragger endorsement, and be willing to tow on the good soaring days.

Look for the "real" pilots, young or old. The aviators with the passion and the "one with the airplane" skills. Reward them realistically. Pay them well and guarantee a minimum number of tows each day as part of their job description. Make sure they are fully hydrated and properly nourished. Fatigue and boredom can be a problem. Praise them for a good tow and for their safe flying. Buy dinner for the pilots who clean the bugs off the wings and prop, for those pilots are the ones who understand aerodynamics. Dessert if they clean the fuselage belly every day.

I grew up on my father's gliderport in Florida with Cubs as towplanes.
I became very proficient in tailwheel airplanes and I have not groundlooped or nosed over YET.

So when I had my glider operation in Miami and now in Marfa, Texas, and since I am rarely flying the towplane, I chose tricycle gear towplanes, "straight tail" '58 / '59 Cessna 182's and a Cessna 150 with a 180 HP Lycoming (and a "climb" pitch prop.) They tow well and are cheaper to purchase, to maintain and the replacement parts are plentiful. Insurance is less expensive and I have a large pool of potential towpilots. Tricycle gear towplanes are generally safer and less expensive to operate and I'm more comfortable with those priorities than a few more feet of rate of climb in a Cub, Husky or Pawnee.

Tricycle gear towplanes can better handle the crosswind gusts and dustdevils we endure out west (obviously good soaring days!) They can handle grass runways if not too rough. (If it is rough, roll it or grade it and make it smooth.)

Towing sailplanes with tailwheel or tricycle gear towplanes is very risky business and is only as safe as the towpilot and the sailplane pilot make it..
Pilot proficiency (not just currency) on both ends of the towrope is essential.

Regarding checkouts, I find some potential towpilots who look outside only 50% of the time. These tend to be younger pilots who are looking down at the instruments. If they don't modify their behavior they do not receive an endorsement from me, even if they learned to fly at Embry-Riddle or have 20,000 hours flying jets. If they do not exhibit basic situational awareness or cannot fly coordinated, I'm simply not impressed with their logbook or their expensive degree in "aeronautics." Isn't "Stick and Rudder" by Wolfgang Langewiesche or Richard Bach's short story "A School For Perfection" required reading at those schools?

On initial towpilot checkouts or recurrency endorsement flights, some don't realize that you control towing airspeed by holding a steady pitch of the nose rather than chasing the airspeed indicator and few bother to clear their turns. Many cannot accomplish the wing-rock and rudder waggle signals and few have bothered to study the signals at all, thinking that a radio call will be sufficient. Some are not familiar with the FAR 61.69 mandatory 24 month recurrency requirements. Some are bored, hungry and thirsty because we often treat towpliots like ski lift operators . . . just get me up there. Many do not comply with the VFR 30 minute fuel requirement for airplanes. There are more unreported towplane fuel starvation incidents than you can imagine (most glide safely back to the airport, if high enough.)

As club managers, think about what's really involved in cultivating safe towpilots.

Towpilot intital endorsement requirements per FAR 61.69 (along with 24 month recurrency endorsements) are simple but unrealistic. Demand recurrent training beyond the minimums to proficiency and do not tolerate aggressive diving of the towplane after the glider releases. (That's hard on the towplane and has proven fatal to those aircraft below the release altitude.) Yes, I have fired "rogue" towpliots who dove my towplanes aggressively and I lost money when I cancelled flying for the day.

I make decisions based primarily on safety. Convenience, "fun", the pursuit of the dollar are lower priorities. Safety is a long-term commitment to a thoughtful culture. A "safety stand-down" is a realistic option in aviation.

Tricycle gear or tailwheel towplane or winch . . . demand proficiency and never say it's a "piece of cake."

Burt Compton
47 years since solo and still alive.

Author of "The Towpilot Manual"
available at www.bobwander.com

Marfa Gliders Soaring Center, west Texas
USA

On Thursday, May 22, 2014 3:35:29 PM UTC-4, Burt Compton - Marfa Gliders, west Texas wrote:

Isn't "Stick and Rudder" by Wolfgang Langewiesche or Richard Bach's short story "A School For Perfection" required reading at those schools?

Last Sunday, right after his first glider lesson, I overheard a 12 y.o. spouting something that he had read in "Stick and Rudder". There's hope.

On Thursday, May 22, 2014 10:06:48 AM UTC-5, son_of_flubber wrote:
I tow behind several excellent tug pilots in their 70's, one who is 84, and several 'young' tug pilots who are in their 50s.



Where is the next generation of Tug Pilots? Do pilots suddenly take up towing gliders in their 50's-60's? (perhaps when they retire from the military?)

I was towing at Perry R5N when I was 23, but I also grew up at New Castle, didn't even know what a tricycle gear plane was as a kid. Traded it all in for an ASW20. There are plenty more behind me from BRSS, JP Stewart and Colin Anderson to name two who will be towing in short order (if you can ever pry them out of the club glass)

E

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, especially for a part timer like myself. I'm just not going to pay $1000 first yr and $500/yr thereafter to tow every now and then.

Local fee schedule where I'm based:

(Q) How much does it cost?
(A) At the bottom of the page you will find a fee schedule for membership. Regular membership dues are $40/month. Cost to join is $504.00. This includes a $200 initiation fee, a $200.00 deposit (refundable upon resignation in good standing), $40 first months dues, and $64 for membership in the SSA (insurance requirement). You can add family members for $50.00 plus the SSA membership of $64.00. If you are a visiting pilot from another club you can get a 14 day membership for $30.00. Aircraft rental prices and aero tow prices are on the fee schedule.

The place I use close to home has 0 fees other than rental, however, there are a surplus of tow guys there... Any connection?

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