10th Annual Cumberland, MD Spring Soar for Fun ~ March 27-31, 2019

[JimD]

[JimD]

Pictures from the event.

[pete914]

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[Sinkhappens86]

Hopefully you guys enjoy this!

[stevekremer]

Very impressive Kev!

Steve K

[Tom]

That’s a cool video Kevin.......one thing that pops out is how your “bridal” tow line doesn’t really work as planned.....in most of the footage the 2 lines are to one side of the rudder or the other.......wonder if it should be shorter or longer?

[JimD]

Or the sailplane needs to stay in a slightly higher tow position.

[Stew2]

I think the advantage of the bridal is to get the tow point further forward and near the CG on the Pawnee, the typical non-bridal tow lines are on one side of the rudder or the other all the time. There will be more of a yaw moment with the bridal configuration, but that doesn't seem to be the problem. I thought the bridal idea was generated to lessen pitch sensitivity/fighting with a further aft tow line position. The bridal doesn't seem to get hung up anywhere, so seems that it works well.

[Steve P]

That’s a cool video Kevin.......one thing that pops out is how your “bridal” tow line doesn’t really work as planned.....in most of the footage the 2 lines are to one side of the rudder or the other.......wonder if it should be shorter or longer?

It actually works exactly as planned. On the Pawnee, the bridle purpose simply moves the attachment point for the tow line significantly forward and lower on the airframe than the original location on the model behind the cockpit -- which is well behind the CG and trailing edge of the wing.. This keeps the sailplane from hauling the tow plane tail upward/downward and makes for much smoother predictable tows.

[Tom]

Ah.......that makes sense!

[Sinkhappens86]

I think the advantage of the bridal is to get the tow point further forward and near the CG on the Pawnee, the typical non-bridal tow lines are on one side of the rudder or the other all the time. There will be more of a yaw moment with the bridal configuration, but that doesn't seem to be the problem. I thought the bridal idea was generated to lessen pitch sensitivity/fighting with a further aft tow line position. The bridal doesn't seem to get hung up anywhere, so seems that it works well.

Yep and we saw this in action with your old Pawnee, Scot. Tom M brought it and Len was towing. As soon as the Arcus got out of position it was a big battle to get it stabilized again. The bridle really prevents that from happening

[Stew2]

Must have been the builder of the Pawnee..... Al he did was look at the pictures!

[lenb]

or the pilot

[gunny11]

Speaking of getting snagged... On my 2 cubs, the balance on the rudder has a tow line guard so the line doesn't find its way through the gap. Before this was installed I had once got the line cought in there once. Nearly ripped the rudder off the tail. First image is on the rudder balance the second was close on the elevator balance.
thats why my Cessna 185 won't have the balances on the rudder or elevators.

[Tom]

Or the sailplane needs to stay in a slightly higher tow position.

True.......but at Cumberland the tow’s trend to be straight up to get “thru” traffic.......so it’s more of just “hang on” and get off! 😃