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Have done heaps of tiger tows (VH-BUG inc that real
short strip -now the caravan park- at Keepit before the present strip was even
thought of) and always thought rope loops back to wing were
normal. The last tiger tow I can remember was behind "banger" going
west at warwick AD taking off 1/3 down runway (without a down hill slope to
help) with water in PIKB after relight. For the next 20 min or so I
had ZERO idea where the airfield was and finally I got thrown off in
thermal in the middle of one of those loops as Trevor stood the tiger
on its wing totally forgetting I had water on. I seem to remember Max
Hall in Chipmunk and the Auster were no better infact maybe worse. I don't
think they (QSA) ever invited Trevor B back as we then got Citabria 150 or
Pawnee 150 or SuperCub and of course they are a thing of the past (except
PA18 180hp). I can assure all motorglider tows are far better than a Tiger
Moth and better than citabria/pawnee 150hp No not a Tiger please
- and then of course there was the 1/4 litre of oil that had
deposited itself over your wings - it was the oil not the bugs in those
days - I can always remember stopping for oil during towing in
between fuel stops!!!! That was an Auster VH-RES
Hopeless!!!-------------Ian McPhee
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2004 4:14
PM
Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Aero-tow
question(s)
Terry,
Tis is just brilliant. Can't see way I'm
ttyping, there is a poqer cut.
Gile Taylir
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 8:20
PM
Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Aero-tow
question(s)
rolf a. buelter wrote:
When I was a little boy I've seen a Tigermoth tow Grunau
Babies and Rhoenlerche (K4). Doubt however that anybody calculated
anything. Rgds - Rolf
Oh we did Rolf. Believe me, we
did!
My recollections of the few aerotows I had behind a Tiger Moth,
mostly in a Boomerang or Ka6, was that of constant calculation about
whether we would clear the increasingly sharply focussing fence at the far
end of the strip in use, and at the same time wrestling with the other
constantly changing dilemma: "Where, and how the hell do I land if
this turns pear shaped?".
I still recall with surprising clarity an
especially generous close inspection of the the creek off the end of the
Stonefield strip in our Boomerang of the time with (I think) the ASC Tiger
Moth somewhere up ahead doing its best to make a go of things. I never
thought that gliding would offer such brief and fascinating expeditions into
the worlds of both geology and geography whilst still on tow
......
It was still fun though :-)
During the late night
sessions of waiting for outlanding pilots to return to Waikerie in the 1974
World comps, the chief scorer - the late Reg Barrington told of a hilarious
episode (more so in retrospect than perhaps at the time) of a certain very
well known German pilot, one of the team practising at Renmark a few weeks
earlier.
It was decided that in addition to the generously ballasted
ASW-17, the aerotow would also be a good opportunity to take up a
photographer in the front of the Tiger Moth. It was, as you would
recognise and recall instantly, a classic hot and still summer's
day.
The already marginal combination was not assisted by the
photographer attempting to wriggle around in his seat and trying to get some
really good shots of the following glider by leaning out of the cockpit of
the Tiger into the slipstream with the (bulky) camera pointed
backwards.
It transpired almost immediately that this was the
critical factor between climb and sink. Reg told of the many
onlookers' total disbelief and silence as this unlikely combination
reluctantly staggered into the air at the far end of the Renmark strip.
He said that if a train had attempted to traverse the line at the end
of the strip at that instant, there would have been a collision.
Apparently the climb progressed between no sink and marginal climb for the
entire episode, with some suggestion that they were almost abeam Loxton
before the petrified tuggy decided there was enough altitude to throw a
cautious turn. Reg swore that if it wasn't for the curvature of the
earth, any real climb would have been impossible, a phrase and observation
no doubt hatched from his wartime experiences as a Lancaster
pilot.
Far fetched? Exaggerated? Well perhaps ever so
slightly, perhaps not. However the event did take place, and perhaps
the prime lesson from this tale remains that the Tiger Moth cannot be
considered as the optimum tug for all situations. This still holds
true today; indeed more so.
Those late evening / early morning
discussions in the scoring office at Waikerie with Reg and Noel Jones, alas
both now departed, were immensely rewarding, enjoyable and contemplative.
It was a totally unexpected bonus from an event I was fortunate to
have been involved in, and will never forget.
Regards,
Terry
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