Tow Signals

Tony Verhulst wrote:
SAM 303a wrote:
Had one of these 6 weeks ago.
Both of us 15-20' off the ground with 1500+ ft of runway ahead and the
window popped open on the Pawnee. He shut down......

What am I missing? The window pops open on a Pawnee, big deal - keep going.

Tony V. LS6-b "6N"

Tony I am not a Tow Pilot but a friend was killed by the opening
window on a Pawnee
tow plane.
If the front hinge mounts are damaged or weak in any way the abrupt
wind force can break the hinge point and the window will pivot on the
rear hinge and flail in the slipstream, this happened and killed or
knocked unconcious the towpilot in flight, we knew this happened in
flight because of the stream of blood on the fuse.
Unfortunately the canopy handle is at the perfect position to hit the
the Temporal artery on the head if it lets go.
It has been mandatory to wear a crash helmet when towing in the Pawnee
ever since.

wrote:
Tony Verhulst wrote:
SAM 303a wrote:
Had one of these 6 weeks ago.
Both of us 15-20' off the ground with 1500+ ft of runway ahead and the
window popped open on the Pawnee. He shut down......
What am I missing? The window pops open on a Pawnee, big deal - keep going.

Tony V. LS6-b "6N"

Tony I am not a Tow Pilot but a friend was killed by the opening
window on a Pawnee
tow plane.
If the front hinge mounts are damaged or weak in any way the abrupt
wind force can break the hinge point and the window will pivot on the
rear hinge and flail in the slipstream, this happened and killed or
knocked unconcious the towpilot in flight, we knew this happened in
flight because of the stream of blood on the fuse.
Unfortunately the canopy handle is at the perfect position to hit the
the Temporal artery on the head if it lets go.
It has been mandatory to wear a crash helmet when towing in the Pawnee
ever since.


Wow! Thanks for the info. My club has 2 Pawnees and I've forwarded your
post to our tow pilot's email list.

Tony

"Bruce Greef" wrote in message
...

Too many excuses by far.

Exactly! I fly with a little Vertex VXA-150 hanging on a light lanyard
around my neck like a piece of jewelry. It costs a whole $230.00, weighs a few
ounces, runs all day on a charge, and is packed with features, including the
weather band. If you can't afford that, you probably should find another hobby.
http://www.wingsandwheels.com/page6.htm

Vaughn

"Jack" wrote in message
ups.com...
Radios are great but... Radios DO
malfunction... Transmissions DO get walked on...

Parachutes sometimes fail to open, but you still see plenty of them around
gliderports.

And... you don't get
too much for $200- in a portable. That being the opinion of someone
that does radio for a living.

From someone else who does radios for a living, I respectfully disagree.
My little $230.00 Vertex ricebox compares well to some of the stuff my employers
pays $ thousands for! Why would anybody fly without a radio?

Vaughn

Vaughn,

Please don't put words in my mouth... I never would suggest that
anyone fly without a radio. Don't tell me now how good your $230- radio
is now, tell me 10 years from now. If it's still working and hasn't
fallen apart, I'll agree with you.

A radio should always be used as primary. It's the safest thing to do.
As a backup... know the signals. If you are out working trackside and
your handheld radio craps out, you had better know the hand/lantern
signals or you might just get run over my the train... or fired... or
fined by the FRA... or all of the above... (like the FAA, but for choo
choos.) Heck, they even take the slack out.

Jack Womack

Jack wrote:
A radio should always be used as primary.

Yes, a radio should be primary for abnormals and emergencies.
Cluttering the frequency with non essential transmissions may make it
unavailable when it is really needed.

Andy

"Jack" wrote in message
oups.com...
Vaughn,

Please don't put words in my mouth...

I don't believe I did, and that certainly was not my intention. My
comments were aimed at the group, not you in particular.

I never would suggest that
anyone fly without a radio.

Good.

Don't tell me now how good your $230- radio
is now, tell me 10 years from now. If it's still working and hasn't
fallen apart, I'll agree with you.

I have had it for several years. It is showing no signs of "falling
apart". Where I work, we pay over $3000,00 for Motorola portable radios and
expect them to last 5 to 7 years. By that comparison, anything made by Vertex
or Icom looks like a heluva bargain.


Vaughn

We bouhgt Motorolas for years. When they got over $2200- each in bulk
of 1000, we switched to Kenwoods. I think we bought over 6000 of them
last year. They're running about $720- each for a full kit in the
numbers we buy. They don't hold up, but in reality, probably do as well
as the Motorolas in the rough service of the railroads.

Radio should be used as primary if there's a problem. A sailplane on
tow, spoilers open, and not climbing needs to be told if possible.
There's no confusion in a transmission that says "check your spoilers!"
I don't think that qualifies as cluttering up the airwaves... That
situation is the subject of this post, not just casual conversation
between friends in the air.

Jack Womack

wrote:

...I am not a Tow Pilot but a friend was killed by the opening
window on a Pawnee tow plane.
If the front hinge mounts are damaged or weak in any way the abrupt
wind force can break the hinge point and the window will pivot on the
rear hinge and flail in the slipstream, this happened and killed or
knocked unconcious the towpilot in flight, we knew this happened in
flight because of the stream of blood on the fuse.
Unfortunately the canopy handle is at the perfect position to hit the
the Temporal artery on the head if it lets go.
It has been mandatory to wear a crash helmet when towing in the Pawnee
ever since.

Was there evidence of the cause of the initial opening? Bad latch?
Operator error? Broken hinge? Lost hinge pin?


Jack