Towing tandem, Forbes flatlands

Saturday Bjørn and I tried tandem towing for the first time. We got a wheel assemby with tailboom on a WillsWing Falcon tandem. I was pilot and Bjørn passenger, Alf towed us with the Tug. It was almost no wind from the south, and we rolled for a long time before taking off. The flight was quite uneventful, and landing on the wheels very easy.

We did two tows, and the only problem seems to be that we climb a little too slow to get acceptable clearance to the powerlines to the south of the airstrip. A little more wind, or towing to the North should eliminate this problem. A new stronger engine on the tug would also be a good solution, anyone know of a used Rotax 912 for sale?

We will try a few more tows before concluding anything, but it seems like a very convenient way of getting tandem flights. It’s probably not as thrilling as running off a mountain for “normal” passenger, but it’s so much more convenient that I think it’s the better option. For training new pilots it seems to be the way to go, doing tandems first and then solo aerotow.

There will be new competition at Forbes this winter. Check out the invitation from Moyes. I’ll be there for sure. Last time was in 2001 I think, then we towed from a burnt out paddoc, this time we seem to have an airport as base, great! http://www.moyes.com.au/Forbes2007/
Forbes 2007