Loren's RC Glider and Tow Plane at Mead

Flown several times at the Western Flyers Spring Fun Fly held on 6 June 2010. Mead Field, Nebraska approximately 15 miles west of Omaha.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• RC
• Glider
• Tow
• Plane
• Loren's
• Mead
• Field
• Nebraska

[J3Flyah]

@J3Flyah Other than the last several responses, the golden rule is when something might be going wrong, release first and talk about it later. Let us know how your first flights go!

[J3Flyah]

@J3Flyah From the sailplane point of view: Use elevator trim to get the right relationship of the glider to the tow plane, rather than constantly tweaking the elevator. Once you're at some atltitude, you won't be able to tell which one is higher anyway so you just have to trust it's right. The most important tip: Keep the glider on the outside of any turn. In other words, don't let the glider turn tighter than the tow plane.

[J3Flyah]

@J3Flyah Always place the tow line on the side of the tow plane’s rudder that is away from the pits. If the glider swings to one side and snags the tow plane’s rudder you would not want it to cause the tow plane to veer into the pits or people.

[J3Flyah]

As the tow pilot I would suggest not try wide circles for the first few flights, just fly a steady climb into the wind, not too steep to cause a stall but steep enough to get some altitude and not disappear into the next county. Keep in mind the release switch and don’t be afraid to dump the glider in tow if he starts doing some weird oscillations.

[J3Flyah]

Use elevator trim to get the right relationship of the glider to the tow plane, rather than constantly tweaking the elevator. Once you're at some atltitude, you won't be able to tell which one is higher anyway so you just have to trust it's right. The most important tip: Keep the glider on the outside of any turn. In other words, don't let the glider turn tighter than the tow plane. The line will go slack, then go twang, then any number of things can happen, more of them bad than not.

[youmanskids]

any tips on how to fly the tug? getting ready to try it with my 2 m Aspire glider and a 46 size trainer. are there any pitfalls or common errors I should watch out for on my first attempt to fly a tug/glider combo. all I know is keep the glider above the tug and keep the turns wide and the climb gentle. I have the tug line on a release behind the tug wing and on the nose release of the glider. any help, warnings or tips would be appreciated. Roger