Question for banner tow pilots

[rotor67]

I'm a helicopter pilot, don't hold it against me! :)

How do the banner pilots p/u or drop the banner?

Thanks in advance.

R91

[mutt]

The secret is in the ropes :):)

The aircraft has a release hook attached to the rear fuselage, a short rope is attached to this with a grappling hook at the other end.

The banner is placed on the ground with a long rope attached, this rope has a looped end that is placed between two plastic pipes approximately 20 feet above the ground.

The idea is to fly the aircraft towards the looped rope, to pull up just prior to reaching the poles and swing the grappling hook through, the banner will hopefully be picked up slowly and gently.

To drop it, pick the location, fly the banner to a low height above the ground, release the hook.

Its fun flying, but will bite you if not careful.



Mutt.

[foxmoth]

Its fun flying, but will bite you if not careful.

The pick up and drop is - flying around with the banner is boring as hell.:mad:

[chrisN]

I heard that once, at Southend maybe, the man on the ground arranging the banner/long rope/poles got caught up in the thing and swept away. Was it apocryphal or true? and that pilot figured that the safest way to let him down (when he realised) was to tow low over a reservoir so the guy could drop into the water.

I bet there are a lot of stories about incidents of one sort or another.
Chris N.

[rotor67]

Thank you Mutt! I always wondered how they p/u the banner. I had an idea about the drop of the banner.

Cheers-
R91
:)

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Mutt describes it correctly, but perhaps one should add that the banner is laid on the ground with its leadiing edge up on the poles, and the aircraft flies towards that leading egde with the rest of the banner beyond it, so it reaches the leading edge first, picks that up, and the rest of the banner unfurls off the ground as the aircraft overflies it so the load is applied gradually - it's not applied all at once.

Don't know about odd stories, but a guy I knew (really nice guy, too) was killed in a banner pick up accident at Barton many years ago.

SSD

[R J Kinloch]

Mutt describes it correctly, but perhaps one should add that the banner is laid on the ground with its leadiing edge up on the poles, and the aircraft flies towards that leading egde with the rest of the banner beyond it, so it reaches the leading edge first, picks that up, and the rest of the banner unfurls off the ground as the aircraft overflies it so the load is applied gradually - it's not applied all at once.

Don't know about odd stories, but a guy I knew (really nice guy, too) was killed in a banner pick up accident at Barton many years ago.

SSD

The few times I launched a Banner in Australia there were no poles.
The Banner was placed on the upwind side of the runway with the aircraft behind it. As the ac started it's takeoff roll towards the banner I held up the leading edge and let the tension of the rope pull it out of my hands.

The main thing to watch was the loop of the rope as it travelled towards you. If it was moving towards your side of the runway you dropped everthing and tried to escape. (The reason why you and the banner were on the upwind side)

Very hairy and very popular at Air Displays

We're obviously tougher (or stupider) in Australia

[ormus55]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8198270221268164960&hl=en

easy init?

[neilmac]

I though like me RAF days it would float on the banner. howver at Denham I went now now NOW expecting it to carry! When the pilot went wheres mr banner I went......................eh by the road , almost felt strange asking him for the 2 grand cheque for operations.lol

NM

[englishal]

I'm a helicopter pilot, don't hold it against me!
Nothing wrong with that ;) Helicopters regularly tow banners in other parts of the world....which always striked me as mad !

I did read an NTSB report of a banner tower in california who picked up the banner and the wire got caught in the rudder causing a full deflection to the right. Still he flew 75% of a circuit and managed to land it on a golf course, which must have given the golfers a bit of a fright!

[LowNSlow]

There was a chap flying from a certain grassy airfield on our Southerly coast who forgot to drop the banner before landing. Amazing how STOL a Super Cub can be with a banner behind it.................

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

[QUOTE=englishal]
I did read an NTSB report of a banner tower in california who picked up the banner and the wire got caught in the rudder causing a full deflection to the right.[QUOTE]

The fatal at Barton was like that - except unfortunately the wire was looped around the tailplane and forced the elevator fully down on picking up the banner. The aeroplane bunted straight in from about 30 feet.