Charlie Longley
MEMBER
Anchorage, AK
Does anyone know if you can tow a glider with the SS?
I don’t think the FAA will allow any experimental aircraft to tow. I had an old time, excellent FAA inspector try very hard to get that for me with my first experimental Cub. Ran it all the way up the flagpole and got a “no”. Even if the glider was experimental and both aircraft were owned by me, it was “no”
I was told it “might” be possible if both tug and glider were experimental light sport.
Just what I was told. You might get a different answer from a different inspector in a different region.
Bill
Funny thing about that, my cub is ok to tow gliders as long as it not for hire. It's in the operating limitations. All I had to do was ask.
Is that an SS? I am thinking of doing it for hire.
I don’t think the FAA will allow any experimental aircraft to tow.Bill
Initially, Burt settled on the Zenoah engine, however, he changed to a Robin within a few weeks and, still later, switched to a single cylinder 215cc Cuyuna. Of seven or eight sketches, Burt liked the canard or tandem wing, with the canard mounted right on the forward end of the fuselage, with its leading edge in line with the tip of the nose. Construction on the Solitaire began in December of 1981 and was completed in early 1982. On May 28, 1982 the Solitaire made its first test flight, piloted by Mike Melville. The Solitaire handled well and performed as expected. Later, the engine was removed and the aircraft was test flown as a sailplane. Burt worked with the local FAA to get the new Grizzly signed off as the tow plane and arranged for himself to be checked out as a tow plane pilot. Burt and Mike towed many flights with the Grizzly, some up to 10,000 feet to obtain L/D data and to open the envelope.
In June of 1982, Burt Rutan worked with the FAA to get the Grizzly signed off as a tow plane so it could be used to tow the new Solitaire for its test flights. Rutan checked out as the tow plane pilot and sent the FAA into a bit of a whirl since they had never licensed an experimental plane to tow another experimental plane. The Grizzly towed the Solitaire for many flights, the first of which occurred on June 23, 1982.
Burt Rutan reflected on the Grizzly program as follows: "We never kitted the Grizzly. We flew it. It wasn't a good idea because it wasn't a very good bush plane. A bush plane needs to have a high wing, not a low wing, and it can't have the flaps two or three feet off the ground dragging through the bush. For me, it was an experiment to show that I could achieve a high lift coefficient on a tandem-wing airplane and, yeah, it parked so that you had a sleeping bed level in it and whatever. I needed more power and it was pretty early that I understood that I should have gone up and spent more time in Alaska understanding what a bush plane really needs to be. I'd put that in that category."
OK can you tell me what the limitations say about towing for hire? Also what does it climb like? Are you at pattern altitude at the end of a 4,000’ runway. Any other limitations you can think of?
Not trying to put words in Charlie’s mouth but I think he is asking what the operating limitations document says. Not the POH. If your CC is in the ELSA category, the EAB category or the SLSA category, the operating limitations document should be carried in the aircraft.
Did they reply? Is it possible to install a towing hook to CC?I am going to call Cub Crafters next week. There’s a Tost tow hook sitting in my hangar that would fit perfectly on a Carbon Cub.
Did they reply? Is it possible to install a towing hook to CC?
Start here:Did they reply? Is it possible to install a towing hook to CC?