To answer some questions that have come up: It's hard to hear, but the tow pilot made a radio call just before I released saying that he needed me off. At that point, we were already descending. I was in a DG-1000, so my 50:1 glide ratio beat the Pawnee's 7:1. It seemed gentlemanly to let him land first. I didn't want to just follow him and extend the downwind though, because there's a cliff at the end of that runway that can generate very strong downdrafts, so I did the zigzag pattern to give him enough time to land, and minimize my exposure to the potential downdrafts. I'm figuring this all out in the few seconds after the release though, so you can hear a little hesitation in my voice.... It was important to get this out on the radio ASAP because that Cessna was ready to take off, and wasn't expecting two planes to drop out of the sky and take his runway. Some people speculated that this was just a normal high density altitude takeoff. Density altitude that day was about 8500 feet, but this is a 260 hp Pawnee, and normally this is no problem. Without going into detail, the engine required some work before it could fly again...
As Dave kammeyer said in his comment above, "It seemed gentlemanly to let him land first." He also said the Cessna waiting to take off didn't expect two planes to drop out of the sky and take his runway, so I would assume they both landed on the same runway. It's possible that it's his tow plane you can see off to the left on the taxiway at the 3:51 mark. The tow plane landed while he was doing his zigzag pattern.
24,000 hrs here and still flying which only means I survived it and NOT that I am an "expert" in any venue. Here are a couple of thoughts on this video and the responses. 1) It's to easy to critique on social media and more importantly... 2) If you haven't been tested in a similar situation, you have no clue how you will react. Train, prepare, and you too will have the extremely successful outcome of these two pilots. Absolutely a great job!
@@joesmith389 Yep. It's like in the winch launch and the instructor suddenly pulls out the plug. Clunk. After a couple of times you only think "Another 3 minutes test flight." But one day you'll be glad you have done that before. Those 1:7 glide ratio's are scary, it sounds like oldfashioned gliders or a downdraft you can not escape. Those angles resemble landing a spaceshuttle. Make shure you get to the threshold flying. Yes, that's impressive.
@@joesmith389 My instructors thought I was doing to well and that I wasn't taking a couple of near disaster situations that happened literally within the first dozen hours of my training serious enough. So when it came time to give me rope break training they did it really early in my training and on a nearly impossible day with a new instructor, all hoping to catch me unaware. Turned out later by the way that I don't tend to stress out or panic in situations like most people do. I wait till after the fact to fall apart, but I handle the situations well. Helped me stand out in my career later. But i digress. With a HEAVY crosswind and very low to the ground I remember thinking there was NO WAY he would pull the release on me so didn't really plan for it more than it could really happen so better have a plan. But definitely wasn't expecting it. I banked hard thinking I needed to make the 180 which seemed like a mistake to the instructor at the time and also released the spoiler lock which REALLY sent him into a panic. What he DIDN'T know was that while we were taking off someone had an emergency landing and was coming in underneath us I would have landed right on top of him had I continued straight ahead and with the crosswind I had no choice but to turn toward the hangers and go around a couple trees that stood just a little taller than the one I had to fly over to attempt a landing on the where normally everyone would be parked. I needed the brakes immediately on landing to try and get stopped because the tailwind was going to push me into the line up...... I had to fight him to pull the handle back before we touched down. I wanted the wheel locked when we touched he didn't want the spoilers deployed before we were on the ground. I won the tug of war and we missed the twin grob by inches. Probably the most expensive glider other than the discus at the entire gliderport... The reason I seemed cocky was because I had been flying radio controlled gliders for 10 years before I started glider training. I had flown some power with a friends dad before that too. I was pretty comfortable. With that said, I was a little too comfortable and did get myself into trouble at least a couple times.....
From a fellow pilot (glider, SEL, Instrument) ...... Great job dealing with the unexpected early termination of your aerotow.. Your episode shows the wisdom of all those simulated rope breaks at 200 ft during take-off required during glider training. Glider training probably saved my life and the live of my passenger 12 year old son. As a very new power pilot, only 10 flight hrs after getting my single engine land license I suffered a engine failure in a rented Beachcraft Skipper (BE77) just as I was nearing the boarder of Des Moines class C airspace making radio call announcing that I was 10 miles out inbound to DSM Suddenly there was loss of power and the engine was shaking so badly that it felt like it was going to rip the nose off. The shaking was so violent and rapid that it was impossible to read any instrument gauge and we were being thrown side to side in our seats. Immediately I shut the engine down and in mid radio call changed my announcement of being inbound into a distress call, engine failure. Because of my glider training I immediately lowered the nose to maintain flying speed. We were about 3500 ft AGL. As per glider training I maintained best glide speed and began seeking a landing spot. Unlike pilots trained in power planes only, I was never tempted to try to maintain altitude by raising the nose - which leads to stall / spin fatalities. I noticed immediately that the BE77 with its engine off felt very familiar, with a sink rate of about 500 ft/min, much like the Schweitzer 2-33 training glider with spoilers half deployed. From glider training I was very familiar with checking angles and the effect of wind on progress across the ground. DSM ATC vectored a highway patrol aircraft towards me to "see where I would crash". I asked ATC for the CTAF (common traffic area frequency) for Ankeny airport which was closer than Des Moines to my location at that moment. I made radio calls on the frequency they gave me (but nobody at Ankeny heard me as ATC had given me the wrong frequency!) I Continued towards Ankeny airport all the while picking out other potential off airport landing spots (in corn fields) . I arrived over the downwind end of the Ankeny runway with insufficient altitude to fly a pattern but too high for a normal approach. The BE77 has fairlly ineffective flaps so I needed other ways to get down while controlling speed. Bingo glider training kicked in again as I did a steep slip to landing (which had not been taught during power training). We touched down normally though a bit fast with the tail wind so heavier than usual braking was required. Because no one heard my radio calls due to the incorrect frequency I had been given, another aircraft turned onto the runway in an upwind direction as I was rolling out downwind. His eyes got pretty big. Aircraft in distress has he right of way. It was later determined that a push rod in the engine had broken. Despite the equipment failure Elliott Aircraft who I had rented the plane from still charged me the rental fee. I will always feel indebted to the glider instructors I had trained with earlier. Once again great job in handling your emergency. And I am mildly jealous that you get t fly a DG-1000. Enjoy!
@@MrSunrise- There was another that landed in the Azores where they had to do a slip on final to scrub speed. Air Transat Flight 236. They said at one point the passengers probably had a better view of the runway than the pilots. They put it down so hard that they blew most of the tires out. I read the article years ago and laughed when I learned that ETOPS really means Engines Turn Or People Swim...
Great comment. Sure, with hindsight and having watched this video a couple of dozen times, I might have done some things differently. I'm obviously glad that no one broke anything that wasn't already broken. Decision #1 was whether to land on the crossing runway or not at about 2:00. I decided not to because I thought it might just be downdrafts rather than the mechanical failure that it was, plus I was concerned about the traffic on the crossing runway (that I took off from, the Cessna behind me, that you can see taking off at that time). Decision #2 was whether to turn right and land long on 20 or do the pattern that I did. At the time, the reason I did the pattern was because I was concerned that there was another aircraft taking off on 20 that might hit me as I was approaching or landing long on 20. In hindsight, this was probably not the biggest risk and landing long on 20 would have been the best option. In my own defense, I had about 10 seconds to make this decision, and I wasn't sure where the departing aircraft were. Decision #3 was how to fly the pattern. The reason I turned right after crossing the runway was to put the most time possible between me and the towplane. I could have gone straight with the spoilers out and done a more normal pattern. I wanted to land as late as possible, because I didn't know exactly how big a pattern the towplane was going to make, and I didn't want to hit him. As it turned out, he did a very tight pattern and landed quickly, but that was abnormally quick due to the situation he was in. I also wanted to have as little exposure as possible past the cliff. The winds there can be unpredictable and have claimed several lives. The downwind-final looks worse than it was because of the GoPro's wide angle lens. I had good speed on and spoilers out from the time I turned base, but of course I didn't feel fantastic at that moment. People have criticized my late final call, but I was focused on making sure I wasn't going to make a hole in the side of the cliff, and the radio was a lower priority at that point...
Yes, us power pilots have never heard of 'slipping" and can't maintain a steady glide. We just panic, curl up and die. Cough. Fortunately we have it easier getting in the cockpit without enormous egos.
That happened to me as a young glider pilot student, too. I was in an ASK21 behind a Wilga, when its engine suddenly stopped due to fuel starvation. Well, he did make one take off to much. Luckily he could land on a field and so my instructor counted this as an unforeseen cable rupture practise.
I had a tug failure on my second glider solo, and this video is reminiscent of it, although mine was more sudden. The large bow in the tow rope was the first sign of trouble, followed by the tug aircraft wagging its wings to tell me to release and land (which I did, downwind).
We camp at Martis Campground frequently and listen to the tower when at camp. We hear reference to 'white-tow' and 'green-tow' all the time. Glad it all worked out for you guys. It's great entertainment for this hang glider pilot to watch and listen to the soaring activities at Truckee.
Stellar job and good quick decision making. I used to tow a lot and I was going to say I was (un) impressed by weak initial climb, then read about density where you were. Still I am amazed that a 260 H.P. Pawnee could not climg better than that. I used to tow with a Robin 400 mostly and the climb was quite good but even less than a Pawnee which is one of the best tow plane.
I can't believe you were able to make a 270 into landing, that wing is incredible. I miss flying, but I smiled when you got the turbulence off the runway because I used to fly parachutes and hot runways under canopy can be wild.
No criticism here! This was done professionally and in an emergency situation in a high traffic area. This couldn't have gone better. True professionals.
Excellent video and top comment. As a high time tow pilot and glider CFI I can state that there were a lot of things done absolutely right in this event. Kudos to all involved. I am even impressed with the accurate flying on tow by both pilots. (This is harder than it looks.) While the top comment explains everything I thought I'd add a bit for the less experienced viewers and commenters. No waveoff from the towplane? In radio contact with the glider it's a whole lot easier to just key the mic and ask for release. Especially if you are not climbing well and you're a little slow, you might not want to waggle the wings just then. And of course the problem with the glider wasn't being too _low_ for an easy return to base but actually, at 50 to 1, being a bit too _high_. The towplane drops like a clipped-wing rock in comparison so not only is it the "gentlemanly thing" for it to land first, it would actually be pretty difficult for the glider to beat him down. The fast final worked out well as it allowed a "taxi" up to the right hand turnoff but I was a little worried about that gravel berm up there. Many thousands of tows in all kinds of towplanes including 260 hp Pawnee, and I've only had to wave off one glider due to towplane problems. That was in a 180hp Bellanca Scout that blew an oil seal and I couldn't see out the windshield. I have dumped a couple due to obvious problems in the sailplane being towed, like unlocked spoilers and no radio contact. And I've only been waved off once for real in a glider... and that was when the designated FAA pilot examiner flying the 180 hp SuperCub _ran out of gas_ while towing me and his employee CFI on a checkride in a 2-33. No kidding.
Wow. That’s one for the logbook: Checkride incomplete, examiner ran out of gas. Thanks for the story! Is there a tow rope release on the tow plane, in case of emergency?
Yes there is, and FARs also specify the strength of the towrope and weak links at both ends if needed. The glider is like a huge tail surface 150-200 feet behind the towplane and it is very easy for the glider to get out of position and override the towplane's controls completely. So the tow pilot has got to be ready to dump the glider at any time, really. Normally though the glider stays in position (as perfectly demonstrated in this video) so there normally isn't any reason for the towplane to release in flight. Some operations will require dropping the rope on landing or at other times for positioning purposes, so the towplane's release mechanism does get used regularly and is checked for operation often.
That was amazing skill put to practice, such perfection! As a SEP Pilot, you Glider pilots seem like gods to me! Edit: that Joe guy though, a real hero, reading your other comments!
Awsome job by glider pilot. We have had 7 aircraft crashes here in CT in the last year including a tow plane and glider. You did an amazing job getting passenger and yourself back to runway 2-0. I'm extremely disappointed in the communication from your tow, he could have easily brought the both of you down due to lack of communication. I tell you what, excellent thinking on the fly (no pun intended) and staying calm, cool and collected. Excellent vid bud and I wish you the best of luck in the future. Lastly I didn't see your tow after disconnecting, I hope he had a safe return as well.
Towplane made a 180 turn straight to landing. I gave some more details in my other comments, but everyone came back without a scratch and no bent metal or busted fiberglass. I could hear the radio fine from my seat, but with the wind noise, it's hard to hear it on the video. I didn't really expect this video to have much of an audience beyond a few flying buddies that I had told the story to, so given the number of views, I should say for the record that the tow pilot Joe communicated what was going on perfectly, and took a risk holding onto me as long as he did. With the engine losing more and more power, the safest thing for him to have done would have been to cut me off ASAP and use the last bit of life in the motor to set up a good pattern. Instead, he held on, even as we started to descend on tow, until he knew I was in a position that I could land safely from. Thanks Joe.
Well done. It shows that if you are prepared, have trained, you do not spend too much time thinking. Assessing the situation, height and distance, staying cool and proceed as trained. In hindsight one always finds a small piece one could have done better. I had some ropes break over 25+ years, most of them winch cables though. After every single one I thought I could have done different, mane better. But nothing bent, everyone safe, that is what counts in the end. You saved a potentially dangerous situation very well. Good airmanship. 👍👍
Nice job,pilot-calm and cool....and that's why we practice lol never had that happen but I had a rope break once-no big deal,we were already up 2500' ,in a 2-33 with the field in easy reach,flew a normal pattern and approach
Nice job! Watching the video it was sort of freaking me out how your tow was not gaining altitude fast enough. Our gliding port uses the same type of tow plane and he hauls us up like we're in an elevator!
Density altitude stated as ~8500' with a 20m ~1600lb two-place glider! I've personally experienced tows in that specific glider behind that towplane at that Truckee, CA airport. Beautifully accomplished response to the emergency!
Glider pilots are trained to know their safe landings areas during all stages of launch, especially if you have ever trained with Cindy B. Great job by all!
Haven't flown a glider in 20+ years (except one 'trial lesson' flight to see if I still could). Didn't catch the 'I need you off' but the accent, from memory, seemed sluggish and the audio didn't sound 'quite right' first impression; the tug pilot knew he had a problem but extended the flight long enough to give the glider enough altitude to work with, very professional all round :-)
Had that happen to me except I was the guy flying the tow plane; a PA-18 Super Cub. It happened just over the fence on departure at about 200 feet. Happily, it was a fuel contamination issue and as soon as I switched tanks, the engine started to turn well again. I assume this video is from the USA since all glider airports-that I have worked out of anyway- here in Canada, are grass strips.
I had this happen to me, Cessna 172 tow plane blew an oil line and gave the release wave off and dove back to the field trailing black smoke, looked almost a scene from a WW2 dog fight. All good, no injuries or loss of aircraft, except perhaps soiled shorts of the tow pilot, lol
В Леверкузене у тягача мотор отказал и пилот попросил планёра отстегнуться. Тягач ушёл в лесной массив напротив взлетной полосы. У пилота не было вообще никакого шанса вытянуть на какую либо полянку. Планеристу не оставалось ничего другого как смотреть вслед уходящему в деревья коллеге . Последующая коробочка и посадка были наверняка не самыми лёгкими в его жизни . Земля пухом камрадам 👍
We had a similar incident at Herlong Airport Jacksonville FL around 2005. Several years prior to this we had a prop strike with the Pawnee hitting an airport sign. The engine and propeller were professionally overhauled and put back into service. Years later a 14 year old student is on his first solo when the Pawnee loses power. We’re quickly on the handheld radio telling the student to release; the tow pilot also releases and the tow rope went down in the trees never to be seen again. The engine is vibrating so badly that the tow pilot is worried it will break free of the engine mount. He does a perfect Bob Hoover power off landing rolling out within 50’ of the Pawnee tie down spot. The prop had lost about 8” off the blade. Meanwhile the student landed and left with his parent and never came back.
It looked as though the tow plane was in trouble from the moment he started his takeoff roll. Even if he wasn't towing a glider, and if it was a hot day at high altitude, think he should have abandoned the take off. Good recovery man.
The shrieking in audio made for temporary deafness.....Good video...at what point did the glider realize a problem? I was wondering about the 5 foot per minute climb rate at the end of runway. Is this normal for a towed craft?
Total non pilot asking a question here. I had never even heard of a winch launch, so I Googled it and watched a video of one. Here's my question: 1,000 feet for a glider doesn't seem like a lot of altitude, everything considered (having to pattern back in for landing, etc.) Once you get in the air, are you able to hit uprising heat currents that lift you higher in the air and keep your flight going for a longer period of time. Fascinating to watch. Great job to both pilots landing in a very nasty situation.
1000 feet is not a whole lot of altitude. In an older glider, you need to connect with a thermal essentially right away or you're going to be landing. In a modern glider, you have a few minutes. With a modern glider, a long field, and a powerful winch though, you typically get about 2000 feet, and that buys you at least ten minutes to hunt around for thermals before you have to come back. Thermals tend to pop up in predictable places though, and you can see where other gliders are finding them, so if the field is set up well, you can connect with something 80-90% of the time, ride it up, and then stay up all day. Doing this is the game of flying gliders, and if you know what you're doing, you can fly hundreds of miles just with your wits and the movement of atmosphere.
Pawnee seemed to lose some power after right after initial takeoff. I'm suspecting that it's engine suffered a stuck or broken valve or other cylinder problem. That usually results in a sudden power rollback accompanied by engine shaking and very often happens right after takeoff. This Pawnee has a six-cylinder Lycoming IO-540 so the power loss and vibration are not quite as drastic as they are in a four-cylinder engine but it'll still get real tense in a glider towing situation.
Thanks to our new super dimona motorsegler at EDFZ having engine ‘issues’ a few years back we had a few aborted aerotow. Well done to get everyone back on the ground without further adventure.
Having towed gliders for several years with a Pawnee, let we assure you who haven’t flown one, they sink power off like a polished safe. An engine failure was always my greatest fear.
Flyboyb747 seems like you would have better things to do other than try and convince a random CZcams comment section of your legitimacy if you were telling the truth there flyboy.
Been there done that! I was actually more concerned about the tow plane pilot we were further out. Unfortunately he was killed a few months later while towing an idiot that porpoised up low to the ground pulling his tail up. Kind of ironic to me Kurt the tow pilot once told me I was an overly cautious pilot, then gets killed very sad he was young.
I have been caught with an 0320 engine failure at 500ft after take-off but managerd to do a wing over 180deg turn back to the runway. One has to discuss an 0320 failure with the Aircraft Engineer who signed it off. However it was a genuiun total failure with a Carb., problem and fuel feed. Rather odd really. Searched around in ones mind to think of a similar situation, I can't say I have seen or heard of an. 0320 failing on take -off. I have had an 0320 run rough to idle at 1200ft.Was able to put the aeroplane back on the ground. Problem carb., failure.
This maybe a dumb question. But is it possible for gliders to have ultra light engines so they could takeoff themselves? Or - at least - have powered backup?
It's not only possible, there are a number of models like that, with retractable engines, and now even electric. But they are more expensive, more maintenance, more everything. Also, engine deployment takes time, so if you tow such a glider and lose the tow at this altitude you should land just like in the video. You have no time to deploy and start the engine.
Can you provide any details? I would like to use this at our monthly safety briefing at the North Florida Soaring Society. I didn't see a wing waggle to kick you off although the climb seemed anemic to me. My email address is jhmcglynn@gmail.com
@@jhmcglynn No wing waggling is bad, what if he didn't get off and the radio didn't work or something? A wing waggle is clear and easy to notice. Code is the key to safety.
Those answers would have better been included in the video as a preface, narration, or epilogue; or in the Description. The comments are not part of the video presentation, don't always include critical information, and some people don't read them.
As a matter of interest, in an emergency can the towplane pilot release the towline from the plane? And if he did that, wouldn't the weight and drag of the line cause the glider to nose down and crash?
The towplane has his own release that he can use in an emergency if, for example, the glider's release fails, or if the glider gets too high on tow and threatens the towplane. This is only extremely rarely used, but if the glider would be flyable in that state. It would definitely be somewhat nose heavy, but the main concern would be catching the rope on something on landing, so the glider pilot would want to land a ways down the runway.
Thanks, and as a matter of interest what's your take on the tragic deaths of a glider pilot and two passengers (one of whom was a toddler on his mum's knee) a few years ago? As I recall, he took off under tow but then a ground controller noticed the small tail trolley was still attached to the glider and radioed "Abort". The tow rope was then released by either the tow pilot or glider pilot, and the glider nosed straight into the ground..
On the other hand if there are lessons to be learnt from the tragedy, the more publicity the better, to help stop it happening again....:)......PS- I was a gliding club member back in the 1960's..
To answer some questions that have come up: It's hard to hear, but the tow pilot made a radio call just before I released saying that he needed me off. At that point, we were already descending. I was in a DG-1000, so my 50:1 glide ratio beat the Pawnee's 7:1. It seemed gentlemanly to let him land first. I didn't want to just follow him and extend the downwind though, because there's a cliff at the end of that runway that can generate very strong downdrafts, so I did the zigzag pattern to give him enough time to land, and minimize my exposure to the potential downdrafts. I'm figuring this all out in the few seconds after the release though, so you can hear a little hesitation in my voice.... It was important to get this out on the radio ASAP because that Cessna was ready to take off, and wasn't expecting two planes to drop out of the sky and take his runway. Some people speculated that this was just a normal high density altitude takeoff. Density altitude that day was about 8500 feet, but this is a 260 hp Pawnee, and normally this is no problem. Without going into detail, the engine required some work before it could fly again...
I wish people would read your comment/.
As Dave kammeyer said in his comment above, "It seemed gentlemanly to let him land first." He also said the Cessna waiting to take off didn't expect two planes to drop out of the sky and take his runway, so I would assume they both landed on the same runway. It's possible that it's his tow plane you can see off to the left on the taxiway at the 3:51 mark. The tow plane landed while he was doing his zigzag pattern.
That's him. He did an immediate 180 and landed on the same runway I did. He probably wasn't airborne for more than 15 seconds after I released.
yeah I second those remarks; good pilot in that glider
Dave Kammeyer looks like you guys executed perfectly....everyone lived AND all aircraft came home undamaged. GOOD JOB!
24,000 hrs here and still flying which only means I survived it and NOT that I am an "expert" in any venue. Here are a couple of thoughts on this video and the responses. 1) It's to easy to critique on social media and more importantly... 2) If you haven't been tested in a similar situation, you have no clue how you will react. Train, prepare, and you too will have the extremely successful outcome of these two pilots. Absolutely a great job!
I’ve never had an engine failure (not a full one), but practiced it countless times. It sure gets the heart pumping.
@@joesmith389 Yep. It's like in the winch launch and the instructor suddenly pulls out the plug. Clunk. After a couple of times you only think "Another 3 minutes test flight." But one day you'll be glad you have done that before.
Those 1:7 glide ratio's are scary, it sounds like oldfashioned gliders or a downdraft you can not escape. Those angles resemble landing a spaceshuttle. Make shure you get to the threshold flying. Yes, that's impressive.
@@joesmith389 My instructors thought I was doing to well and that I wasn't taking a couple of near disaster situations that happened literally within the first dozen hours of my training serious enough. So when it came time to give me rope break training they did it really early in my training and on a nearly impossible day with a new instructor, all hoping to catch me unaware.
Turned out later by the way that I don't tend to stress out or panic in situations like most people do. I wait till after the fact to fall apart, but I handle the situations well. Helped me stand out in my career later. But i digress.
With a HEAVY crosswind and very low to the ground I remember thinking there was NO WAY he would pull the release on me so didn't really plan for it more than it could really happen so better have a plan. But definitely wasn't expecting it.
I banked hard thinking I needed to make the 180 which seemed like a mistake to the instructor at the time and also released the spoiler lock which REALLY sent him into a panic.
What he DIDN'T know was that while we were taking off someone had an emergency landing and was coming in underneath us I would have landed right on top of him had I continued straight ahead and with the crosswind I had no choice but to turn toward the hangers and go around a couple trees that stood just a little taller than the one I had to fly over to attempt a landing on the where normally everyone would be parked. I needed the brakes immediately on landing to try and get stopped because the tailwind was going to push me into the line up......
I had to fight him to pull the handle back before we touched down. I wanted the wheel locked when we touched he didn't want the spoilers deployed before we were on the ground. I won the tug of war and we missed the twin grob by inches. Probably the most expensive glider other than the discus at the entire gliderport...
The reason I seemed cocky was because I had been flying radio controlled gliders for 10 years before I started glider training. I had flown some power with a friends dad before that too. I was pretty comfortable. With that said, I was a little too comfortable and did get myself into trouble at least a couple times.....
Well said.
"If you haven't been tested in a similar situation, you have no clue how you will react." Well said, Sir.
To me, the result is testimony to the airmanship. Well done; great video.
Very cool and collected... It looked as tho' you were just shooting odd patterns (!) Never heard the radio call. Nice work.
From a fellow pilot (glider, SEL, Instrument) ...... Great job dealing with the unexpected early termination of your aerotow.. Your episode shows the wisdom of all those simulated rope breaks at 200 ft during take-off required during glider training.
Glider training probably saved my life and the live of my passenger 12 year old son. As a very new power pilot, only 10 flight hrs after getting my single engine land license I suffered a engine failure in a rented Beachcraft Skipper (BE77) just as I was nearing the boarder of Des Moines class C airspace making radio call announcing that I was 10 miles out inbound to DSM
Suddenly there was loss of power and the engine was shaking so badly that it felt like it was going to rip the nose off.
The shaking was so violent and rapid that it was impossible to read any instrument gauge and we were being thrown side to side in our seats.
Immediately I shut the engine down and in mid radio call changed my announcement of being inbound into a distress call, engine failure. Because of my glider training I immediately lowered the nose to maintain flying speed. We were about 3500 ft AGL. As per glider training I maintained best glide speed and began seeking a landing spot. Unlike pilots trained in power planes only, I was never tempted to try to maintain altitude by raising the nose - which leads to stall / spin fatalities. I noticed immediately that the BE77 with its engine off felt very familiar, with a sink rate of about 500 ft/min, much like the Schweitzer 2-33 training glider with spoilers half deployed. From glider training I was very familiar with checking angles and the effect of wind on progress across the ground. DSM ATC vectored a highway patrol aircraft towards me to "see where I would crash". I asked ATC for the CTAF (common traffic area frequency) for Ankeny airport which was closer than Des Moines to my location at that moment. I made radio calls on the frequency they gave me (but nobody at Ankeny heard me as ATC had given me the wrong frequency!) I Continued towards Ankeny airport all the while picking out other potential off airport landing spots (in corn fields) . I arrived over the downwind end of the Ankeny runway with insufficient altitude to fly a pattern but too high for a normal approach. The BE77 has fairlly ineffective flaps so I needed other ways to get down while controlling speed. Bingo glider training kicked in again as I did a steep slip to landing (which had not been taught during power training). We touched down normally though a bit fast with the tail wind so heavier than usual braking was required. Because no one heard my radio calls due to the incorrect frequency I had been given, another aircraft turned onto the runway in an upwind direction as I was rolling out downwind. His eyes got pretty big. Aircraft in distress has he right of way. It was later determined that a push rod in the engine had broken. Despite the equipment failure Elliott Aircraft who I had rented the plane from still charged me the rental fee. I will always feel indebted to the glider instructors I had trained with earlier.
Once again great job in handling your emergency. And I am mildly jealous that you get t fly a DG-1000. Enjoy!
Haha the nerve. They could have had a totaled aircraft and a wrongful death suit to boot. They should have gladly waived your fees.
Google "Gimli Glider".
@@MrSunrise- There was another that landed in the Azores where they had to do a slip on final to scrub speed. Air Transat Flight 236. They said at one point the passengers probably had a better view of the runway than the pilots. They put it down so hard that they blew most of the tires out.
I read the article years ago and laughed when I learned that ETOPS really means Engines Turn Or People Swim...
Great comment. Sure, with hindsight and having watched this video a couple of dozen times, I might have done some things differently. I'm obviously glad that no one broke anything that wasn't already broken.
Decision #1 was whether to land on the crossing runway or not at about 2:00. I decided not to because I thought it might just be downdrafts rather than the mechanical failure that it was, plus I was concerned about the traffic on the crossing runway (that I took off from, the Cessna behind me, that you can see taking off at that time).
Decision #2 was whether to turn right and land long on 20 or do the pattern that I did. At the time, the reason I did the pattern was because I was concerned that there was another aircraft taking off on 20 that might hit me as I was approaching or landing long on 20. In hindsight, this was probably not the biggest risk and landing long on 20 would have been the best option. In my own defense, I had about 10 seconds to make this decision, and I wasn't sure where the departing aircraft were.
Decision #3 was how to fly the pattern. The reason I turned right after crossing the runway was to put the most time possible between me and the towplane. I could have gone straight with the spoilers out and done a more normal pattern. I wanted to land as late as possible, because I didn't know exactly how big a pattern the towplane was going to make, and I didn't want to hit him. As it turned out, he did a very tight pattern and landed quickly, but that was abnormally quick due to the situation he was in. I also wanted to have as little exposure as possible past the cliff. The winds there can be unpredictable and have claimed several lives. The downwind-final looks worse than it was because of the GoPro's wide angle lens. I had good speed on and spoilers out from the time I turned base, but of course I didn't feel fantastic at that moment. People have criticized my late final call, but I was focused on making sure I wasn't going to make a hole in the side of the cliff, and the radio was a lower priority at that point...
Yes, us power pilots have never heard of 'slipping" and can't maintain a steady glide. We just panic, curl up and die. Cough. Fortunately we have it easier getting in the cockpit without enormous egos.
Tow plane: we’ve lost power. Shit
Glider: bruh
That happened to me as a young glider pilot student, too. I was in an ASK21 behind a Wilga, when its engine suddenly stopped due to fuel starvation. Well, he did make one take off to much. Luckily he could land on a field and so my instructor counted this as an unforeseen cable rupture practise.
I had a tug failure on my second glider solo, and this video is reminiscent of it, although mine was more sudden. The large bow in the tow rope was the first sign of trouble, followed by the tug aircraft wagging its wings to tell me to release and land (which I did, downwind).
We camp at Martis Campground frequently and listen to the tower when at camp. We hear reference to 'white-tow' and 'green-tow' all the time. Glad it all worked out for you guys. It's great entertainment for this hang glider pilot to watch and listen to the soaring activities at Truckee.
That is f'ing incredible! Great job of flying of both pilots with deadsticks. Thoroughly impressed. Cool under pressure. Thanks for posting.
Stellar job and good quick decision making. I used to tow a lot and I was going to say I was (un) impressed by weak initial climb, then read about density where you were. Still I am amazed that a 260 H.P. Pawnee could not climg better than that. I used to tow with a Robin 400 mostly and the climb was quite good but even less than a Pawnee which is one of the best tow plane.
I can't believe you were able to make a 270 into landing, that wing is incredible. I miss flying, but I smiled when you got the turbulence off the runway because I used to fly parachutes and hot runways under canopy can be wild.
any average glider will have that amount of performance. (not the performance his has, but plenty to make the pattern)
No criticism here! This was done professionally and in an emergency situation in a high traffic area. This couldn't have gone better. True professionals.
Excellent video and top comment. As a high time tow pilot and glider CFI I can state that there were a lot of things done absolutely right in this event. Kudos to all involved. I am even impressed with the accurate flying on tow by both pilots. (This is harder than it looks.) While the top comment explains everything I thought I'd add a bit for the less experienced viewers and commenters. No waveoff from the towplane? In radio contact with the glider it's a whole lot easier to just key the mic and ask for release. Especially if you are not climbing well and you're a little slow, you might not want to waggle the wings just then. And of course the problem with the glider wasn't being too _low_ for an easy return to base but actually, at 50 to 1, being a bit too _high_. The towplane drops like a clipped-wing rock in comparison so not only is it the "gentlemanly thing" for it to land first, it would actually be pretty difficult for the glider to beat him down. The fast final worked out well as it allowed a "taxi" up to the right hand turnoff but I was a little worried about that gravel berm up there.
Many thousands of tows in all kinds of towplanes including 260 hp Pawnee, and I've only had to wave off one glider due to towplane problems. That was in a 180hp Bellanca Scout that blew an oil seal and I couldn't see out the windshield. I have dumped a couple due to obvious problems in the sailplane being towed, like unlocked spoilers and no radio contact. And I've only been waved off once for real in a glider... and that was when the designated FAA pilot examiner flying the 180 hp SuperCub _ran out of gas_ while towing me and his employee CFI on a checkride in a 2-33. No kidding.
Wow. That’s one for the logbook: Checkride incomplete, examiner ran out of gas. Thanks for the story!
Is there a tow rope release on the tow plane, in case of emergency?
Yes there is, and FARs also specify the strength of the towrope and weak links at both ends if needed. The glider is like a huge tail surface 150-200 feet behind the towplane and it is very easy for the glider to get out of position and override the towplane's controls completely. So the tow pilot has got to be ready to dump the glider at any time, really. Normally though the glider stays in position (as perfectly demonstrated in this video) so there normally isn't any reason for the towplane to release in flight. Some operations will require dropping the rope on landing or at other times for positioning purposes, so the towplane's release mechanism does get used regularly and is checked for operation often.
Great composure, professionalism, control, and landing!
That was amazing skill put to practice, such perfection! As a SEP Pilot, you Glider pilots seem like gods to me!
Edit: that Joe guy though, a real hero, reading your other comments!
What is an SEP rating?
Awesome job. Kudos to both pilots for landing safely.
Awsome job by glider pilot. We have had 7 aircraft crashes here in CT in the last year including a tow plane and glider. You did an amazing job getting passenger and yourself back to runway 2-0. I'm extremely disappointed in the communication from your tow, he could have easily brought the both of you down due to lack of communication. I tell you what, excellent thinking on the fly (no pun intended) and staying calm, cool and collected. Excellent vid bud and I wish you the best of luck in the future. Lastly I didn't see your tow after disconnecting, I hope he had a safe return as well.
Towplane made a 180 turn straight to landing. I gave some more details in my other comments, but everyone came back without a scratch and no bent metal or busted fiberglass. I could hear the radio fine from my seat, but with the wind noise, it's hard to hear it on the video. I didn't really expect this video to have much of an audience beyond a few flying buddies that I had told the story to, so given the number of views, I should say for the record that the tow pilot Joe communicated what was going on perfectly, and took a risk holding onto me as long as he did. With the engine losing more and more power, the safest thing for him to have done would have been to cut me off ASAP and use the last bit of life in the motor to set up a good pattern. Instead, he held on, even as we started to descend on tow, until he knew I was in a position that I could land safely from. Thanks Joe.
nicely done!
Well done. It shows that if you are prepared, have trained, you do not spend too much time thinking. Assessing the situation, height and distance, staying cool and proceed as trained. In hindsight one always finds a small piece one could have done better. I had some ropes break over 25+ years, most of them winch cables though. After every single one I thought I could have done different, mane better. But nothing bent, everyone safe, that is what counts in the end. You saved a potentially dangerous situation very well. Good airmanship. 👍👍
Talk about a short final runway 20!
Impressive display. Thank you for sharing!
Nice job,pilot-calm and cool....and that's why we practice lol never had that happen but I had a rope break once-no big deal,we were already up 2500' ,in a 2-33 with the field in easy reach,flew a normal pattern and approach
Nice final approach :-)
Nice job! Watching the video it was sort of freaking me out how your tow was not gaining altitude fast enough. Our gliding port uses the same type of tow plane and he hauls us up like we're in an elevator!
Density altitude stated as ~8500' with a 20m ~1600lb two-place glider! I've personally experienced tows in that specific glider behind that towplane at that Truckee, CA airport. Beautifully accomplished response to the emergency!
Great result, keep up your averages, ie, "the same number of takeoffs as landings"
Nice flying and quick thinking.
that further explanation helped. I was wondering because I couldn't hear the radio call for release and the pan pan or mayday call.
Glider pilots are trained to know their safe landings areas during all stages of launch, especially if you have ever trained with Cindy B. Great job by all!
Haven't flown a glider in 20+ years (except one 'trial lesson' flight to see if I still could). Didn't catch the 'I need you off' but the accent, from memory, seemed sluggish and the audio didn't sound 'quite right' first impression; the tug pilot knew he had a problem but extended the flight long enough to give the glider enough altitude to work with, very professional all round :-)
Had that happen to me except I was the guy flying the tow plane; a PA-18 Super Cub. It happened just over the fence on departure at about 200 feet. Happily, it was a fuel contamination issue and as soon as I switched tanks, the engine started to turn well again. I assume this video is from the USA since all glider airports-that I have worked out of anyway- here in Canada, are grass strips.
First time I've seen a glider towing a glider.
I had this happen to me, Cessna 172 tow plane blew an oil line and gave the release wave off and dove back to the field trailing black smoke, looked almost a scene from a WW2 dog fight. All good, no injuries or loss of aircraft, except perhaps soiled shorts of the tow pilot, lol
В Леверкузене у тягача мотор отказал и пилот попросил планёра отстегнуться.
Тягач ушёл в лесной массив напротив взлетной полосы.
У пилота не было вообще никакого шанса вытянуть на какую либо полянку.
Планеристу не оставалось ничего другого как смотреть вслед уходящему в деревья коллеге .
Последующая коробочка и посадка были наверняка не самыми лёгкими в его жизни .
Земля пухом камрадам 👍
good action, giving the towplane the space to land first, Good thinking!
Very nice handling and touchdown, radio calls, etc.
We had a similar incident at Herlong Airport Jacksonville FL around 2005. Several years prior to this we had a prop strike with the Pawnee hitting an airport sign. The engine and propeller were professionally overhauled and put back into service. Years later a 14 year old student is on his first solo when the Pawnee loses power. We’re quickly on the handheld radio telling the student to release; the tow pilot also releases and the tow rope went down in the trees never to be seen again. The engine is vibrating so badly that the tow pilot is worried it will break free of the engine mount. He does a perfect Bob Hoover power off landing rolling out within 50’ of the Pawnee tie down spot. The prop had lost about 8” off the blade. Meanwhile the student landed and left with his parent and never came back.
Was the blade failure directly attributable to the earlier prop strike?
Nice flying, interesting vid.
It looked as though the tow plane was in trouble from the moment he started his takeoff roll. Even if he wasn't towing a glider, and if it was a hot day at high altitude, think he should have abandoned the take off. Good recovery man.
Started with one glider needing to land....now we have 2.
Brilliant flying!!
The shrieking in audio made for temporary deafness.....Good video...at what point did the glider realize a problem? I was wondering about the 5 foot per minute climb rate at the end of runway. Is this normal for a towed craft?
Depends on the density altitude, but it seemed slightly below normal performance. Source: I help out at a small aerodrome.
Glider pilots are just the best. Energy management!
Gravity never loses. The best we can hope for is a draw.
Nicely done.
Total non pilot asking a question here. I had never even heard of a winch launch, so I Googled it and watched a video of one. Here's my question: 1,000 feet for a glider doesn't seem like a lot of altitude, everything considered (having to pattern back in for landing, etc.) Once you get in the air, are you able to hit uprising heat currents that lift you higher in the air and keep your flight going for a longer period of time.
Fascinating to watch. Great job to both pilots landing in a very nasty situation.
1000 feet is not a whole lot of altitude. In an older glider, you need to connect with a thermal essentially right away or you're going to be landing. In a modern glider, you have a few minutes. With a modern glider, a long field, and a powerful winch though, you typically get about 2000 feet, and that buys you at least ten minutes to hunt around for thermals before you have to come back. Thermals tend to pop up in predictable places though, and you can see where other gliders are finding them, so if the field is set up well, you can connect with something 80-90% of the time, ride it up, and then stay up all day. Doing this is the game of flying gliders, and if you know what you're doing, you can fly hundreds of miles just with your wits and the movement of atmosphere.
Great job!
Amazing job.
Wow! Never thought a glider would tow a glider
Pawnee seemed to lose some power after right after initial takeoff. I'm suspecting that it's engine suffered a stuck or broken valve or other cylinder problem. That usually results in a sudden power rollback accompanied by engine shaking and very often happens right after takeoff. This Pawnee has a six-cylinder Lycoming IO-540 so the power loss and vibration are not quite as drastic as they are in a four-cylinder engine but it'll still get real tense in a glider towing situation.
When was that last cleaned?!
Oh no the engine has failed on the plane ahead of the glider u are in mate
Many planes are waiting close as far as I can see here...you had luck with taking that runway
Thanks to our new super dimona motorsegler at EDFZ having engine ‘issues’ a few years back we had a few aborted aerotow. Well done to get everyone back on the ground without further adventure.
Having towed gliders for several years with a Pawnee, let we assure you who haven’t flown one, they sink power off like a polished safe. An engine failure was always my greatest fear.
Being on the glider end, mine too!
"Like a polished safe"! Never heard that one, but I was accused of falling like a tool box.
looks like a busy lil airport
now the Tow is a glider too xD
Darn fine job!!
Lol at the expert pilots in the comments
Flyboyb747 getting paid to fly doesnt make you an expert. also no one cares that youre a CFIG that holds no merit
Flyboyb747 seems like you would have better things to do other than try and convince a random CZcams comment section of your legitimacy if you were telling the truth there flyboy.
0 age ain’t nothing but a number. We don’t care how old you are.
hello brother
19,000+ hours and I'm keeping my mouth shut.
i didnt see where the towplane went did he land on the same runway?
It’s crazy how the tow plane drops like a rock. Glide ratio ftw!
please enlighten...
So... a potentially bad situation for the tug but what's so bad for the Hangaron?
A premature release sure...but what?
Is this Tehachapi? I have flown a glider from there once before. I think it was a Grob.
Truckee, CA
ME: Uhhh, ATC, this is 1CH, MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY, we have an engine failure, squawk 7700.
ATC: But... you are a glider...
ME: Any problem????
Hashanah
ATC: um, okay. What are your fuel and souls on board?
Christopher DeLuca the indicators are not working! We have 1 soul on board
Been there done that! I was actually more concerned about the tow plane pilot we were further out. Unfortunately he was killed a few months later while towing an idiot that porpoised up low to the ground pulling his tail up. Kind of ironic to me Kurt the tow pilot once told me I was an overly cautious pilot, then gets killed very sad he was young.
Glider towing a glider.
dude i did gliding lessons there
Nice work all around
I see gliders being towed over my land all the time. Nice to see their perspective. I will stop waving at them.
Go get a ride.
Shortest short final I have seen lately.
Do you ever climb after take off or just wander a lot at the same height ?
When the motor is working properly up front, we usually get about a 500 foot per minute climb.
great skills
I have been caught with an 0320 engine failure at 500ft after take-off but managerd to do a wing over 180deg turn back to the runway. One has to discuss an 0320 failure with the Aircraft Engineer who signed it off. However it was a genuiun total failure with a Carb., problem and fuel feed. Rather odd really. Searched around in ones mind to think of a similar situation, I can't say I have seen or heard of an. 0320 failing on take -off. I have had an 0320 run rough to idle at 1200ft.Was able to put the aeroplane back on the ground. Problem carb., failure.
nice airmanship.
Perfect
Truckee airport - my hometown.
This maybe a dumb question. But is it possible for gliders to have ultra light engines so they could takeoff themselves? Or - at least - have powered backup?
It's not only possible, there are a number of models like that, with retractable engines, and now even electric. But they are more expensive, more maintenance, more everything. Also, engine deployment takes time, so if you tow such a glider and lose the tow at this altitude you should land just like in the video. You have no time to deploy and start the engine.
Nice moves
I assume your friend in the Pawnee made it back as well?
He landed about a minute before me. You can see him on the ramp as I landed off to the left.
Can you provide any details? I would like to use this at our monthly safety briefing at the North Florida Soaring Society. I didn't see a wing waggle to kick you off although the climb seemed anemic to me. My email address is jhmcglynn@gmail.com
You can see the towplane at 3:51.
@@LarsBohr5 Yes, but what's the story with the plane at 3:58 to the left that looks like his left wing is buried in the ground??? WTF???
@@jhmcglynn No wing waggling is bad, what if he didn't get off and the radio didn't work or something? A wing waggle is clear and easy to notice. Code is the key to safety.
Gone pretty far down the comments list. Where is this?
nice .. respect also
So what happened to the tow plane? I didn't see it on the field. Did he put it down off the field?? Everyone okay??
Looks like he might have passed it at 3:51, left side, taxiway.
Scarier than the glider and wounded plane are the comments. Can't ANYONE bother to read? I too had questions. But Dave's first post answered them all.
Those answers would have better been included in the video as a preface, narration, or epilogue; or in the Description.
The comments are not part of the video presentation, don't always include critical information, and some people don't read them.
Where is this?
Looks like a thrush cropduster tow plane?
It is a Piper Pawnee used commonly for glider towing. The thrush is bigger.
Didnt read the publishers comment till later, but just before that first right bank....im not a pilot here, but juust did not look right.
beautiful
call final over runway
Good job reacting under pressure. All the armchair pilots in here need to shut up. Everyone landed and walked away. Job well done!
I flew in a glider when I was little girl!
I started flying a Glider when I was 4 years old- a Lightning Glider.
Camel towing?
As a matter of interest, in an emergency can the towplane pilot release the towline from the plane? And if he did that, wouldn't the weight and drag of the line cause the glider to nose down and crash?
The towplane has his own release that he can use in an emergency if, for example, the glider's release fails, or if the glider gets too high on tow and threatens the towplane. This is only extremely rarely used, but if the glider would be flyable in that state. It would definitely be somewhat nose heavy, but the main concern would be catching the rope on something on landing, so the glider pilot would want to land a ways down the runway.
Thanks, and as a matter of interest what's your take on the tragic deaths of a glider pilot and two passengers (one of whom was a toddler on his mum's knee) a few years ago? As I recall, he took off under tow but then a ground controller noticed the small tail trolley was still attached to the glider and radioed "Abort". The tow rope was then released by either the tow pilot or glider pilot, and the glider nosed straight into the ground..
I'm not familiar with that accident, and I certainly wouldn't comment on it on CZcams if I were!
On the other hand if there are lessons to be learnt from the tragedy, the more publicity the better, to help stop it happening again....:)......PS- I was a gliding club member back in the 1960's..
This is at Truckee (trtk) airport
That's what I was thinking too.
Whoa! Imagine if, both the tow plane and the glider had an engine failure 😳
What ever happens just fly the damn plane
And repress any and all feelings of panic. Save it for later.
3:55 the plane on the left looks off
Awesome footage, beats a jet fighter and way less expensive.
truckee
called that final late enough haha
What's that occasional "whew" you can hear?
Adam Brown wind noise or vario.
If you mean at 2:45 then I think it’s the passenger in the back