Been there!
I was the tuggie for the day. Flying my 150hp Supercub at Shenington.
Had been taking off crosswind on the longer run. They asked me to use the shorter run, directly into wind for the next takeoff, which meant that we HAD TO TAKE OFF ACROSS the runway in use by everybody else.
So we lined up, and had to wait for Everybody Else to takeoff, land, or whatever. And I was getting annoyed.
NEVER GET ANNOYED!
At last it was our turn, the K13 behind me was slow to roll. Was my engine delivering enough power? I glanced at the dials....all OK. Sounded OK. I looked in my rear view mirror - tugs have a rear view mirror so you can keep an eye on the glider.
Sure enough, the airbrakes on the twoseater K13 were wide open!
I was dragging a shed. The earth bank in front was getting too close for comfort. Despite the engine doing its best, my speed got slower.
What is the stalling speed for a combination like that? I reckon we had about 50 mph at very best estimate. So I carried on over the earth bank, only just. And carried on dragging the shed by now about 45 mph, and not happy at all, so at 500 feet I DUMPED THE GLIDER.
By that height they should easily have been able to return to the airfield, but only if they noticed the open brakes and did something about them.
Tuggies very seldom dump a glider. I've only done it 3 times. When I turned around, the K13 had vanished. Where did it go? People were running around on the ground like something urgent had happened.
The instructor and student in the K13 had NOT NOTICED AT ALL the open airbrakes. They simply plonked the glider in the nearest field, and then realised they were still wearing the towrope! No damage, no injury.
A learning experience altogether. I resolved never again to accept towing across runway in general use. I also resolved if I was upset to NOT PROCEED with the tow.
The tug pilot is responsible for the combination. But if the glider has the airbrakes open, most tugs have enough grunt to drag it up anyhow. We were marginal, and towing across an eight foot earthen bank. The only good news it was directly into the wind for the day.
Last edited by mary meagher; 11th Oct 2017 at 07:55.