JeffH

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Is it possible to aero tow a 2m, 4 channel sailplane? I am looking at the NE Sailplane scale KA-6.

I will be using an ultrastick w/big super tigre to pull it up.

thanks

Ollie

Yes you can tow it. It will tow easily when you match the tow plane and glider speeds and avoid any abrupt maneuvers. With a small area, narrow chord, highly tapered wing and a 12 ounce per square foot wing loading, the airspeed has to be kept well above the relatively high stalling speed. It is far from a floater but it will thermal in medium to strong lift that is wide enough to acomodate relatively high speed turns. You will need a fifth servo for tow release.

BMatthews

Strangley enough you need a reasonably fast plane for the tug. A buddy and I tried this a few years back. He had a Saito powered Kadet and I had a flat winged 2 meter job. (the same one I did the experiments with Ollie) The Kadet was so lazy with the Saito and my glider was so clean that it was rediculously easy to exceed the Kadet's speed. Made for tricky towing. I kept easing back on the elevator to keep the speed down and line tight and it ended up with me "highstarting" up to a higher altitude than the Kadet. At that point the whole thing would get out of kilter and we would disengage. Never really got any decent amount of altitude. I'd like to try it again though.

But that Ultrastik should be a bit faster than my friend's lazy Kadet.... Hints from my limited experience..... Plan ahead and be sure that both of you know what the flight plan will be. When to turn after takeoff, how big the turns will be (they should be large, lazy turns while climbing in a steady manner). Pretty much any unexpected things are reason to disengage. And you want to stay in the tow planes path. Neither cutting the circle nor "snapping the whip" by flying a larger circle than the tow plane.

Good luck.

Wayne22

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yup... the smaller planes will be more twitchy than the larger ones, so you both have to work harder to maintain a predictable flight path......but it is fun when you pull it off...

JeffH

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I think I will be trying this as soon as I get everything together!
Thanks for the info.

wdratsloper

Here's a short video of my OS160FX powered Senior Telemaster towing a friends DAW 1-26 2- meter. If the video doesn't load you just need to load Windows Media Player 9.
Towing Video
Have Fun
CYA JOE

Brad Fuller

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Also check out the tow sequence of my C-47 towing my waco glider at www.sarasotarc.com click on AIRFAIR 2002, go to the middle of the pictures.

wdratsloper

Nice set of pictures Brad. Looks cool with the glider lifting off first.

BMatthews

Now THAT's nice........ :thumbup:

How about some specs on the '47 and the glider? Just so we can learn from the numbers.....

Brad Fuller

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The C-47 is a ziroli design, 140" wingspan, two G-38s, the tow release, which is a standard one from the hobby shop, is in the middle of the C-47, with three feet of yellow nyrod in a tube from the back, that way I can come by, drop the line, and I can see the yellow come out of the plane, so I know when and where it came out. then I come by and drop three chutes as the glider is landing. The glider was built from model airplane plans, and the front end raises up after landing. the best part is that there's two of us with this combo, and we take off one behind the other, looks great and is a real croud pleaser

tdeliman-RCU

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Aero towing a 2 meter ship in my opinion is not that hard, the tow pilot really has to work a lot more, especially with a polyhidral glider on tow, they like to be towed a lot slower and will tend to wallow around in the box behind the tug.

I am lucky enough to not have that problem with anything I have towed. My tug is a 1/4 scale Wilga that I got from ICARE and the powerplant is a 3W 78 Twin with smoke!!!! So far I am have been able to tow upto 12 pound plane nearly VERTICAL . And the Smoke is working great for towing. I makes it easier for the glider to follow (plus it just looks neat). And towing vertical or about 70 degrees puts a lot less stress on both planes. I just have to remember throtle management. With a 2 meter poly ship, I do it about 1/4 throt. and 1/2 flaps to keep my speed down and still be able to keep it almost straight up.

I would also like anybody out there intersted in towing or being towed in the central florida area to feel free to stop by the field. We are in the North Winter Haven area. The more the marrier. I have 2 tugs, the Wilga and a Giant Stinger with a G62 that another pilot flys tows with, (His tows are a lot more scale).

pequeajim

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Is there a web site for ICARE?

Fly4Fun2

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www.icare-rc.com

pequeajim

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Thanks!

That's exactly what I was looking for.

I have a few questions for you if you don't mind.

How long did it take you to put the plane together?

How does the plane balance out with the 3W, I mean, did it need nose weight, tail weight? (I'm trying to get an idea of what engine I can put in)

I would also like to carry RC skydivers in the air. They would be carried under each wing half with a release rig attached. Is the wing attachment area very sturdy?

Finally, did the kit come with everything you need, hardware, tank, etc, etc..., and If there are scale gear, do you know what they cost?

Thanks for the help and your patience.



Jim!

Fly4Fun2

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Let me know if you find out anything about the scale gear and the shipping charges. I have looked at one of these too.

pequeajim

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I will be down in Florida March 20th through the end of the month to watch my son play ball. The town I will be staying in is Punta Gorda? how far is that from your field? If there's a chance of seeing a Wilga fly, I would drive a ways to get there for a day.

Jim!

scalesoar

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Interesting thread:
What I am surprised and pleased to know is their are a lot of guys trying aerotow that are not in the typical aerotow circles that I travel in. 10 years ago it was a novelty, now everyone is an expert! Seems for the most part all good advice on towing.
If any are interested in the next step, visit my web site for some interesting aircraft pictures. be prepared to spend lots of time looking I have several hundred photos and info pages.
Good towing,
John Derstine

http://www.scalesoaring.net

pequeajim

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John:

On the front of the JR Aerotow .pdf, there is a cessina type of tow plane. Do you know what this is and who makes the model?

Jim!

scalesoar

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That is Peter Goldsmith's scratch built "tow Maule" One of a kind, no kit available. He has a GT -80 twin in it. Actually it is built from the remains of a previous De Haviland Beaver that crashed.
Got a great big ugly Wilga from Rodel on my next order :-}


There are a lot of suitable scale subjects you can build if you don't mind actually building. I can steer you to something if you want, not stuff I sell neccesarily.
A few ARF's are "modifyable"

John

pequeajim

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John. Actually the Wilga is what I was looking into. There is a place called "i-care" in canada that sells them? I have never head of Rodal, where are they? Do they have a web site?

Jim!

scalesoar

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What you need to do is visit my website. I have a little info on the Rodel Wilga. It is brand new. I have two ordered for March I am the U.S. Rep for Rodel. I have a new Gallery posted this afternoon, with a lot of pictures of the Rodel Wilga 2000. (not even on their site yet) I also import the Alexander Frisch Wilgas. He makes three sizes. These two companies make the highest quality kits of Wilgas with scale shock absorbing gear and lots of hardware plus details.
The Chezch made smaller ones lack shock absorbing gear and are not so complete. You get what you pay for in many ways.
John

Endless Mountain Models

Wilga Gallery
Rodel page general info

scalesoar

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Here is the 1/3.5 Frisch Wilga 80, the traditional style older model

tdeliman-RCU

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Jim,
Rodel's website is www.roedelmodell.de
The Red Bull from rosenthall (www.rosenthal-flugmodelle.de) or the Bully from Vogt (www.modelplane.de) look like good candidates for towing also.
Maybe John or somebody else here in the states carries them too. I am really interested in them both.

Todd

scalesoar

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Tooting my own horn, but why import a generic tug from Europe, the best generic tow plane is right here :-}
The Pegasus, not pretty, but proven, easy to fly, motors from 80cc up to 150cc
Sold over 100 of them. Ask the big dogs in aerotowing if in doubt.
JD

pequeajim

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I like the Do 27 on the site.

http://www.modelplane.de/modelle/do27/haupt.htm

I want something without wing struts as I will also be dropping skydivers from the wings.

Jim!