Aerotow open letter

Hi Michel,

Thanks for the lovely post on gliding in Italy , as Derek mentioned there is talk of possible doing something here in S.A .

On the left you see Kens Ka8 about to lift off, you can see the red marker on the tow line on the right.

The guys in Durban (Russ and his sidekicks ) and the guys at J.OM.A.C. are into aero towing, in fact at JOMAC they are now only launching this way and have a lot of experience. Groengoud field would be a better option than JOMAC for aerotowing as its all lawn and one can always take off into wind, and landings are easy. Charl is also keen to make a strip /runway into wind on his grass farm, and this could be another venue.

So whats the hold up... we need a few competent glider pilots who can also fly a tug and then we need a couple of big tugs , I mean big, 100 to 150cc size.(Wilga's Pawnee's or Cubs would do nicely and fit the scale profile.)

The JOMAC tug is an Ugly Stik (big version) with a 1.5cu in fourstroke and it tows up gliders in the 3.5 to light 4mtr class , Adrian is the tug pilot and knows his stuff , so he could help and advise.

In discussions with most of the guys who fly big gliders at the slope, there are plenty of guys who would be keen to explore this method of launching and it would give us the oppurtunity to fly the big stuff more often.

Michel if you want to drive this idea , I am sure there would be support.

Regards

Mike

ps. Get yourself a copy of Paul Natons(radio carbon art)PRO AEROTOW, the 10mtr ETA being aerotowed is mind boggling.