Banner Towing
Hi all,
Just wondering if anybody(s) out there have any experience with banner towing.
I was in Akl NZ a while back and saw both H300 and AS350 a/c towing overhead the city/suburbs. Initially blown away as I thought underslung loads a definite no.no above the unsuspecting heads of the innocent public.
Had a rig explained to me as I know a weight is required to keep the line tightish to not ruin the hang(readability) of the important message. Anyway the rig as explained had either water/sand as the ballast and if dropped (pilot finger trouble or line breakage) the rig would invert, spill the ballast and the ballast container(a bit like a bambi bucket) would behave like a parachute. Sounds good, not too sure, but would assume during design the feds would have seen the lot pickled several times to insure it worked as expected (no squashed company ground crew = a big tick).
The rig had a main line down to the ballast, plus a secondary line spliced into the main with a number of short lines linking the two in a semi parallel arangement. The secondary line and connections were to take the "curve" out of the primary so the banner leading edge started as straight as possible.
The H300 banners were a decent size and very readable from 1500'AGL(eyeballometer), the AS350 jobbies were HUGE.
Appreciate any info on design, operation and any experience with CAA, FAA, or CASA in certification of banner ops.
Cheers & fly Safe
Hone