Post by Reg on Feb 19, 2003 9:39:04 GMT -5
Not sure if this is the right area of the forum to be posting this but here goes!
What do you do when you're all ready to go flying your favourite PSS model and the weather forecast is completely wrong? You know the scene... your TX and Rx batteries are all charged up and ready to go, you take a last quick look at the weather forecast before you set off to the flying site only to find that the 15mph north-westerly you were relying on has died down to a bare breath of wind! Do you give up? Hell no! You go Aero-Towing!
Ok Ok, so this relies on a couple of factors which might not be immediately available to everybody, like a friendly IC pilot with a suitable tug aircraft for a start!
On Saturday 15th Feb, Phil Cooke, Simon Cocker and I set off to have a days flying at a local flying club's flat field site in Chelford, Cheshire. Phil and I had brought along our Tucano PSS models on the off chance that the conditions on the day were not suitable for flat field flying and so would be ready to make a bee-line for one of the many flying sites around Cheshire.
As it happened the weather conditions were perfect for flat field flying, but the Tucano's both looked like they could do with an outing and Phil has been wondering about their aero-towing performance so.....
...Ten minutes later and we'd rigged up a pair of lightweight towing lines for the Tucanos. Since neither aircraft had a tow line release system fitted, I made up a 'Noose' at one end of the line which was secured around the Tucano's spinner and pulled tight. This is where Phil starts thinking back to the build of the aircraft and starts to wonder how strongly he'd built the Spinners bulkhead!
Phil, being the more experienced pilot got ready for the first flight whilst Simon readied the tug aircraft. This was called a Mega-WOT a sort of 200% scaled up version of the Chris Foss Design Wot4 with a 90cc single swinging a 24" prop!
As soon as the power came on the tug, the lightweight Tucano practically leapt into the air from the propwash alone! Simon proceeded to take off and gently pulled back to begin the high speed vertical ascent to height. It's worth pointing out here that the Mega-Wot has a weight of 24lb but has a static thrust conservatively estimated to be in excess of 40lbs!!! Hang a PSS Tucano off the back of this beast and it hardly notices as it roars into the sky!
At the top of the climb we were relying on Simon to use the Tug's release system to let the tow line go and allow the Tucano to begin it's rather more gentle glide back down to earth, with the line trailing from the nose. On this first 'Hop', despite the tug throttling back prior to line release, the airspeed was so great that upon release the Tucano immediately performed one of the tightest loops I've ever seen! Luckily Phil was well up to the task, brought the Tucano under control and guided it away from the Tug aircraft which immediately began its descent to set-up for the next tow.
In the meantime, Phil was getting to grips with flying a 33" wingspan model at nearly 1000ft! The Tucano's descent was graceful, filled with loops and rolls aplenty with the towline adding a nice touch as it streamed out behind the aircraft. The use of a relatively short length of lightweight line proved to be no real hindrance to the performance of the aircraft.
Following Phil's landing the decision was taken to try for a dual aerotow with both Tucanos. The tow lines were made to different lengths, so that when the tug aircraft went vertical there was a degree of separation between the two Tucanos.
Being relatively new to aerotowing (My first tow had been completed earlier that day with a Phase 6 look-alike called "Endorphin Rush") Phil and Simon talked me through things to be aware of when being towed as one of a pair of aircraft. "Try to keep your aircraft to the right" I heard Simon say, and so subconsciously I added a little right trim to the aileron (Big Mistake!)
Simon started the take off run and smartly pulled up with both Tucanos in tow. Immediately my aircraft (the trailing aircraft) banked hard to the right... I over-corrected to the left then released.... it once again banked hard to the right! In the meantime the Mega-Wot and both Tucanos are climbing like a SAM missile (Topical!) I glance across at Phil and Simon and they're both looking at me with that "What the hell are you doing?" expression!
I immediately centralised the trim on the aileron and normality returned. At the top of climb Simon throttles back, releases the cables and then throttle up and accelerates away. Phil and I hardly notice this as all our attention is directed to the diminutive forms of the two Tucanos. For my part I'm desperately trying to work out which side is up! Eventually I work it out and settle down to trying to maximise the glide time of the aircraft.
The aircraft both flew really well, really revelling in the speeds available through diving from such a great height. Sadly the near total absence of any thermals meant that we weren't able to extend the flight times, and so eventually we brought the aircraft in for landing.
I must confess I was rather pleased with my landings, being able to place the aircraft down almost exactly where I wanted it. No sooner had we both landed then we were setting the aircraft up for another ascent to height.
All in all, excellent fun and a great days flying!
[shadow=red,left,300]Reg [/shadow]
[shadow=red,left,300][glow=red,2,300]Aero-Towing PSS Models[/glow][/shadow]
What do you do when you're all ready to go flying your favourite PSS model and the weather forecast is completely wrong? You know the scene... your TX and Rx batteries are all charged up and ready to go, you take a last quick look at the weather forecast before you set off to the flying site only to find that the 15mph north-westerly you were relying on has died down to a bare breath of wind! Do you give up? Hell no! You go Aero-Towing!
Ok Ok, so this relies on a couple of factors which might not be immediately available to everybody, like a friendly IC pilot with a suitable tug aircraft for a start!
On Saturday 15th Feb, Phil Cooke, Simon Cocker and I set off to have a days flying at a local flying club's flat field site in Chelford, Cheshire. Phil and I had brought along our Tucano PSS models on the off chance that the conditions on the day were not suitable for flat field flying and so would be ready to make a bee-line for one of the many flying sites around Cheshire.
As it happened the weather conditions were perfect for flat field flying, but the Tucano's both looked like they could do with an outing and Phil has been wondering about their aero-towing performance so.....
...Ten minutes later and we'd rigged up a pair of lightweight towing lines for the Tucanos. Since neither aircraft had a tow line release system fitted, I made up a 'Noose' at one end of the line which was secured around the Tucano's spinner and pulled tight. This is where Phil starts thinking back to the build of the aircraft and starts to wonder how strongly he'd built the Spinners bulkhead!
Phil, being the more experienced pilot got ready for the first flight whilst Simon readied the tug aircraft. This was called a Mega-WOT a sort of 200% scaled up version of the Chris Foss Design Wot4 with a 90cc single swinging a 24" prop!
As soon as the power came on the tug, the lightweight Tucano practically leapt into the air from the propwash alone! Simon proceeded to take off and gently pulled back to begin the high speed vertical ascent to height. It's worth pointing out here that the Mega-Wot has a weight of 24lb but has a static thrust conservatively estimated to be in excess of 40lbs!!! Hang a PSS Tucano off the back of this beast and it hardly notices as it roars into the sky!
At the top of the climb we were relying on Simon to use the Tug's release system to let the tow line go and allow the Tucano to begin it's rather more gentle glide back down to earth, with the line trailing from the nose. On this first 'Hop', despite the tug throttling back prior to line release, the airspeed was so great that upon release the Tucano immediately performed one of the tightest loops I've ever seen! Luckily Phil was well up to the task, brought the Tucano under control and guided it away from the Tug aircraft which immediately began its descent to set-up for the next tow.
In the meantime, Phil was getting to grips with flying a 33" wingspan model at nearly 1000ft! The Tucano's descent was graceful, filled with loops and rolls aplenty with the towline adding a nice touch as it streamed out behind the aircraft. The use of a relatively short length of lightweight line proved to be no real hindrance to the performance of the aircraft.
Following Phil's landing the decision was taken to try for a dual aerotow with both Tucanos. The tow lines were made to different lengths, so that when the tug aircraft went vertical there was a degree of separation between the two Tucanos.
Being relatively new to aerotowing (My first tow had been completed earlier that day with a Phase 6 look-alike called "Endorphin Rush") Phil and Simon talked me through things to be aware of when being towed as one of a pair of aircraft. "Try to keep your aircraft to the right" I heard Simon say, and so subconsciously I added a little right trim to the aileron (Big Mistake!)
Simon started the take off run and smartly pulled up with both Tucanos in tow. Immediately my aircraft (the trailing aircraft) banked hard to the right... I over-corrected to the left then released.... it once again banked hard to the right! In the meantime the Mega-Wot and both Tucanos are climbing like a SAM missile (Topical!) I glance across at Phil and Simon and they're both looking at me with that "What the hell are you doing?" expression!
I immediately centralised the trim on the aileron and normality returned. At the top of climb Simon throttles back, releases the cables and then throttle up and accelerates away. Phil and I hardly notice this as all our attention is directed to the diminutive forms of the two Tucanos. For my part I'm desperately trying to work out which side is up! Eventually I work it out and settle down to trying to maximise the glide time of the aircraft.
The aircraft both flew really well, really revelling in the speeds available through diving from such a great height. Sadly the near total absence of any thermals meant that we weren't able to extend the flight times, and so eventually we brought the aircraft in for landing.
I must confess I was rather pleased with my landings, being able to place the aircraft down almost exactly where I wanted it. No sooner had we both landed then we were setting the aircraft up for another ascent to height.
All in all, excellent fun and a great days flying!
[shadow=red,left,300]Reg [/shadow]