Re: Re: Indoor Tow Glider

From: Tapio Linkosalo <tapio.linkosalo_at_helsinki.fi>
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:54:24 +0200 (EET)

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007, Robert Romash wrote:

> Chuck did get his ITG near the 35meter ceiling using a circle tow
> method, very fun to watch!

What kind of circle tow did he use?

Many years ago, when I was a teenager, I built an indoor glider and set it
up with offset towhook, as was then quite common with outdoor gliders here
in Finland. The rudder is fixed to the glide turn, and the hook is offset
to the inside of the turn, so that when the line pulls forward it creates
a moment offsetting the rudder turn. This hook was also for circle tow,
the hook on the plane was a closed loop, and instead of a tow ring on the
line there was a two-fingered piece of piano wire. The "fingers" were
pressed together to make a loop that kept to the hook loop on the model,
but a firm pull off the line slipped the towhook loop off the grip of the
fingers, so you could release the model when you wished. I suppose the
same setup could be used to tow a model to the ceiling at USIC?


-Tapio-
Received on Wed Nov 14 2007 - 23:54:28 CET