Glider Tugging
 

Am interested in becoming a tug pilot, purely for fun, and the flying experience. Does anyone have any experienes of learning and what it takes to achieve this goal?
I have held a PPL A for 25 years, tailwheel experience and also a few hundred rotary hours - only a couple of glider hours tho...

Thanks.

This gets asked regularly. Most gliding clubs demand gliding experience, so that you have some idea what is happening at the other end of the rope. You normally have to be a member of the club as well, for insurance reasons if nothing else. Also many, perhaps most, tugs are tail draggers.

I've been tugged behind a non-gliding tug pilot when I belonged to a small group of experienced glider pilots, and it was quite interesting to start with. Some of the places he put us were less than ideal - OK for an experienced bunch, but potentially risky for inexperienced glider pilots. As the tug pilot gained experience he became very good, from the glider flier's perspective, but few clubs could have afforded to take the risk of using him before then because he would have needed to tug trainees and inexperienced pilots.

The general wisdom is that if you don't have some solo gliding experience, clubs won't be interested. There is usually a fair body of suitably qualified PPLs who would like to fly with the gliding club picking up the bills (though it's tough work tugging on a good soaring day, so I reckon the tuggie earns his or her "free" flying).

Also be aware of the increased risks. If I'm on the other end of the rope and lose concentration, I have quite a few ways to kill you while surviving myself!

Having said all that, you seem to be close to Lasham, the biggest gliding club in the country. They might have a need for more tug pilots, and are certainly big enough to limit your tugging to experienced pilots while you learn the trade. A visit might be sensible - if abortive, at least you could talk flying and enjoy a bacon sandwich.

Thanks for your reply, and for the sensible advice. Maybe I ought to go and do a few more hours in a glider to see how it works in practice and get a better understanding from the glider pilots perspective.

Cheers.

Went to Lasham once and got a brisk "Thanks, but no thanks".

Think they get their powered pilots from their glider pilot club member population.

Thanks for that - I have been told its not at all easy to get into gliding clubs, I guess there are lots of other semi-retired pilots who also like to keep their hand in without any need for an income.

It's worth popping along to a local club to check anyway. Some places that get quite busy advertise for seasonal tuggies (where you get to fly quite a lot for a few months - often used for hour builders). Take a look at Glider Pilot Network > Classified Adverts too.

...and lots of gliders are owned by syndicates of two or more pilots. What would you do on a nice flying day when your syndicate partner is flying your glider? Winch driving, instructing or tugging? I know several glider pilots who got themselves an NPPL(A) purely to fly the tugs.

Thanks guys for you replies. Much appreciated.

It's very easy if you want to fly gliders!

Yep, true - I can imagine most glider clubs would welcome me to increase their revenues by providing me with glider flying, but I like engines and challenging flying, that's why the tugging appeals.....

You don't consider gliding challenging enough?

BB

I have every respect for the skill of glider pilots, and I know that it is a challenging environment to fly in, however, that does not mean to say I want to actually do it. I am lucky enough to be able to fly powered aircraft and helicopters and that is what I like doing.

BB, It's challenging in a different way and extremely satisfying when everything comes together on a good day e.g. fly through a thermal on the crosswind leg after departure, plan a suitable turn and fly into the thermal again at release height, make a quick descent (allowing for engine cooling considerations) without touching the throttle again until short final and be back on the ground in six minutes.


r44heli,
Now in my book, really challenging was the dual flight I had in a Bell 47. I was doing quite well, much better than I expected but I remember having to remind myself several times to relax and not grip the cyclic so tightly. After 20 minutes, my instructor (who was handling the throttle, which really helped) suggested we quit while I was ahead of the aircraft. A good idea as I was getting tired quite quickly. Great fun.

As said above, clubs generally prefer active glider pilots with not much power experience rather than the other way round.

This is because a) they have an appreciation of what happens on the other end of the rope and b) having a soaring pilot in the tug who can read the sky and optimise the tow in terms of lift (on tow) and sink (descending to land) can save the club a *lot* of money in fuel. Also, reducing the turnaround time keeps the aerotow queue happy and may generate extra launches that there wouldn't have been time for otherwise.

Having someone who has spent the majority of their flying time doing fully held off landings from relatively tight circuits, while keeping a good lookout, makes the training much easier as well.

I started in powered flying and am now doing gliding as well (solo stage, almost ready for my GPL). I can only support the position of the gliding clubs with regards to tug pilots. There are some profound differences between the glider and the power environment. It helps a lot if you have actual gliding experience, preferably a GPL and some x-country experience. Because as a tug pilot you're fitting in with the glider world, not the other way 'round.

R44Heli;

I did a summer season as a tug pilot a long time ago and still do some at my local club. Both places insist/ed that tug pilots had at least a gliding Silver C, actually it makes a lot of sense as it means the tug pilot will have a good idea of where the glider pilot wants to be.

SND

Thanks guys for your replies, I cannot disagree that it makes perfect sense to gain a gliding qualification to become a good tug pilot, but I would be keener to spend the money involved flying other things, so maybe I will put this on the back burner for a while.

Thanks once again all for the advice.

Maybe an idea to have a quick check as to how many fatal accidents there were a few years ago with "tug upsets", which is when the glider get too high on tow and smashes the tug into the ground.

Did anyone remember a few years ago at Farnborough a couple of Lo100 aerobatic gliders being towed behind a Robin.

Now that did look fun!

I believe all of those were caused by a combination of (a) inexperienced pilot, flying (b) a very light glider, on (c) a centre of gravity towing hook (as opposed to a nose hook). All the clubs I know won't allow that combination to recur. So far as I'm aware there have been no similar accidents since.

That's not to say it couldn't happen, which is why I have every admiration for the bold pilots who permit me to occupy the other end of the string. If one day I find I'm pushing the rope because of my wild antics at the back, I promise not to complain.

The only people to give me a near death experience at the other end of the tow rope were ironically the CFI of the gliding club, and an airline pilot. Its not always the inexperienced ones you have to watch out for!