Hi guys,

I'll throw in my .02 regards the aero-towing.... A friend and I did some aero-towing back in the late 70s (I have a feeling we were perhaps the first in Australia to do this but can't prove it!!). He had a .61 sized Stafford Super Chipmunk and towed my home-brewed fibreglass and foam slope soarer. We had an absolute ball and I can tell you that it isn't nearly as difficult as you might imagine... The following details will help (hopefully).

1. We used a simple release on BOTH models. This was a safety feature we figured we needed in case there was some reason either radio couldn't release.

2. We started with a simple 20 foot piece of 60 pound fishing line with a 12" segment of 1/4" bungee as a shock absorber. This was too short and got a little hairy - not enough time to react comfortably. We finally settled on a 50 foot length of fishing line with the shock absorber. Worked fine.

3. We used the tail of the tow plane with absolutely no troubles. This will be scale of course for your C47 and I would recommend you go with it. However, with the Horsa, I believe they were attached to the tow line by a Y-yoke so the attachments will be at the wing leading edges or probably the struts. You will obviously have researched that.

4. We found that with a VERY slick glider, it was difficult to stay behind the tow plane!! I had no trouble staying in low-tow position on takeoff, but the eventual technique that worked for us was to basically climb at maximum angle to keep the glider in position. This will obviously not be as big of a problem with a more draggy (scale) glider such as the Horsa, but you might be still surprised at how little extra power is needed to tow it. In fact, I would venture to say that you probably won't notice the drag very much at all.

5. To put your mind to rest about the glider climbing uncontrollably - it won't. That is why the glider pilot has an elevator stick after all! Yes, he/she will need to keep forward pressure on it as the glider will be more comfortable at lower speeds, but it will remain completely controllable. If you really wanted to be certain, just build a semi-symmetrical section for the glider instead of the more usual high-lift item. The glider will still have more than adequate performance and will be easier to tow...

6. It is probably obvious but I'll say it anyway - make sure you build the glider with ailerons and don't rely simply on the rudder for turns - it is too slow to react this way and you won't be too successful.

7. Get used to the glider pilot landing before you and being there at your shoulder asking how long before you can tow him again! It's too much fun to just do once!

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any question you need.
Cheers,
Greg