Glider towing advice

[Obs cop]

Hi all,

Could anyone direct me to the relevant legislation and or guidelines covering licencing and currency requirements to be a tug pilot?

I have trawled Lasors, the Air Navigation Order and the BGA website and am really struggling to find anything other than tow lengths.

Likewise I would be grateful if there are any tug pilots out there who could give advice for as to what sort of additional requirements gliding clubs make.

many thanks

Obs cop

[shortstripper]

I'm pretty sure all that is legally required is a PPL. However, most clubs prefer a glider pilot of least bronze if not silver standard, but I guess it depends how desperate they are! Why don't you ring a club that is advertising and ask? They usually start advertising around now for summer pilots if they can't find anyone in house.

SS

[IanSeager]

The current issue of one of the monthly magazines has an article covering this very subject.

Ian

[gijoe]

Rock up at a club, ask around, get yourself accepted and known and you might be offered the chance to try tugging.

Be warned that it is not for everybody - one brain trying to control an aircraft is bad enough for me...2 is even worse. The guy on the back can really ruin your day if he gets it wrong.

PM me if you want more.

[robin]

Hmm - I think most gliding clubs have a waiting list for potential tug pilots. The majority have got round the issue of payment, by insisting that tuggies are club members, and add to that the requirement for a minimum level of gliding experience. You should be aware that a lot of clubs use tailwheel tugs, so experience there would be useful.

Some of the larger clubs do employ full-time tug pilots for the summer season and these are advertised around.

What I think is true, is that a power-only pilot is not exactly welcome if all they are interested in is tugging - there are a lot of other chores around gliding fields, which fall to the tuggie. If you don't join in, you won't go far.

[EGBKFLYER]

The BGA did sell a training manual of sorts - I bought it about a year ago, so it's probably still available... It was a low quality publication, but it does cover the salient points a tuggie needs to know.

All that's needed to tow is a valid PPL. If you're getting paid for tugging, that's aerial work and will require a CPL.

[Obs cop]

Thanks for the replies folks,

I had a read of the said article in the monthly mag today and it states that pilots must have 100 hours P1. But then it also states that there is plenty of guidabce on the BGA website. There may well be but I'm damned if I can dig it out!

I'm just wondering now if that is a legislative figure, a guideling from CAA or the BGA or indeed the same sort of thing as crosswind operations where individual clubs have more stringent operating procedures than those set down by the authorities.

All I can find is that you must hold a full valid PPL, must not work for hire or reward (ignoring the glider towing rating which allows CPLs to be paid) and must have a ratings suitable for the aircraft to be flown - normally SEP(land) and tailwheel.

Is there owt else as they say?

Thanks

Obs cop

[gaxan]

Did'nt this topic rear its head a few weeks ago? I think the general rule( all previous threds withstanding) is Glider pilot first - Tuggie second.

[robin]

As tugging happens on sites administered by the BGA, look for them to determine the limits. In fact each club may well have tighter requirements

[chrisN]

The 100 hours P1 is not a legal minimum, but rather what most gliding clubs demand - as well as, usually, certain other attributes already mentioned by others and detailed before in other threads, I believe.

Chris N.

[Laundryman]

Check out this site:-


http://www.tugpilots.co.uk/

[Piltdown Man]

The answer is simple: Go gliding for the sake of gliding and then, if you have a PPL, maybe someone will say "Would you like to help the club out and learn how to tow?" Especially at the club whose website is mentioned above ( where I started to tow with 43 hours in my logbook (and 900 hours gliding)).

[gijoe]

The answer is simple: Go gliding for the sake of gliding and then, if you have a PPL, maybe someone will say "Would you like to help the club out and learn how to tow?" Especially at the club whose website is mentioned above ( where I started to tow with 43 hours in my logbook (and 900 hours gliding)).

Serious question this...

Did you feel sufficiently PIC of the show with only 43 hours SEP and with capacity to spare ?

I ask because it took some getting used even with a few hundred hours...

G

[robin]

... a 900hour glider pilot is likely to have a much better understanding of what is needed in tugging than a 100hr power-only pilot.

That would indicate to me a serious and experienced glider pilot who has upped his qualification to help out. 43 hours is a low level, but he would be being supervised by the tug-master.

[gijoe]

True, I had gliding under the belt as well. Winch, aerotow, SLMG etc and it still took some getting used to.

Maybe this was something to do with the departures and arrivals both ways up the non-radio runway.

It is a risky place to be sat when it goes wrong...be safe!

Good luck!

[bletchleytugie]

At the risk of being controversial.

A low hours pilot without any gliding expereince is on a hiding to nothing.

They probably do not have the experience to recognise soaring conditions developing/degrading - dumping a pilot who just probably paid in excess £20 in xx knots of sink leaving them to struggle and possibly landing back inside 20 minutes instead of 4 or 5 hours later will not endear them to the customer.

The tow; A tow with an experinced pilot on the back requires as much concerntration as one with a student on the back - the only difference being the expereinced pilot isn't going to take advantage of the 150 ft of tow rope between you him to take his instructor on a guided tour of bits of the tug that you've never seen from above and below.

Engine Handling and Tight Circuits. Engine Handling is a major part of tug flying, fly by the numbers and you won't go far wrong, rushing back down too quickly leads to an expensive repair bill. How do you feel about operating tight circuits with a number of gliders around? - no place for the flying school Bomber Command circuit.

Visit some gliding sites and look at the variations in size and shape, they range from narrow strips to wide open airfields, you can find at the bottom of hills, on the tops of hills even on hillsides - you may be expected to go one of these sites with you club expeditions.

Just some of my thoughts for what their worth - ALL OUT