I had one wave off in my 19 years as a glider pilot. It turned out it was a bad magneto. One is a bit different than the other. At initial crank it’s designed to spin faster than crank speed for a brief burst in order to provide a stronger spark. This mechanism got stuck and caused the mag to be not timed correctly. So, with one mag firing at the wrong time the engine won’t develop full power. The takeoff seemed normal to me until he rocked the wings at 200 feet. I didn’t get off until he did it again at 300. We both landed fine. He was ok with me not getting off right away. He said he could have got me up higher, if I stayed on. He did not attempt to change mags at low altitude especially with me on. It was developing enough power to be safe. Messing with it could have made it worse. He did not switch mags after I got off. He was able to land, then he discovered it was a bad magneto. The bit about the mechanism was discovered by the mechanic. It was a 180 Super Cub. I was in a Ka6.

Sitting on the top of the vertical stabiliser like that for the whole tow is why you kept slacking the rope. Sit just below the tow that way you have some margin to pull up to unslacken the rope now and then without getting too high. Over controlling and not straightening that yaw string. Looks like you are connected using belly hook as opposed to nose hook, set more down trim before take off to reduce the inclination to kite.

Where is the towplane emergency?

Looks like a standard tow to the height possibly agreed on for the day to make sure everyone gets up. The real emergency is the un-coordinated flying on tow.

cool! what time was it?

Stepping on that string might help reduce drag. You think?

a ropebreak at 1:08 and you would have a pretty bad day

A tow pilot once told me that the first sign of his tow plane emergency is 200 feet of rope coming back at me. 🙂In a real emergency, I don't have the time to rock my wings.

Clickbait + piss poor flying...

I would say a very nervous flight. Too much stick input. I think you were not trimmed correctly. I did not see any emergency here.

I was wondering if there were alternative out landing sites off camera... the tow plane seemed to take you straight out (away) from possibly returning to the airport in case of an aborted takeoff.

Thanks for the clickbait

2:49 How come the little bit of string attached to your windscreen is horizontal most of the time? Is the tow plane pulling you sideways?

At moments, you were too high during tow. 😬

How did he "wave off" the glider, by radio or what?

Your windscreen tell-tale is instructive I think. Engine problem or not, that pilot is dragging you through the air in uncoordinated flight most of the time.

High slacking the tow line. Yikes.

Not looking like very friendly terrain to have to land in if you don’t have enough altitude to find a suitable spot or be able to get back to the airport

I do hang glider tow being the towed pilot. I was wondering what your signal would be if any different. Our tug pilot will wave his arm when you should release. AND if he throws ME the line, I need to decide if I have enough altitude to drop the line over the field or release it then and there. A wing wag could just mean he hit a thermal with one wing only and then corrected. I am assuming that a thermal does not affect the tow plane in sailplane towing as severely?

Yeah these days are hell for me. Ive been grounded for a month now...maybe longer. Good ole Wurtsboro

But Dan says that plane is perfectly fine. LoL

That was it?

I am both a tow pilot and a glider pilot. In my club we prefer a tow circuit that does not travel so far from the airport in the initial phase, to make it easier to return in case of problems, especially with the tow plane.

First, and maybe it's the camera angle, but 1) you should do better on your crosswind takeoffs to keep you nose on centerline while the towplane is still on the ground and 2) it appears you get high on tow way to frequently. Both should be intolerable to you even if you aren't perfect at your execution. Just to clarify, don't start your drift downwind until the towplane lifts off and be mindful of your kiting. Those are my thoughts for improvement. Second, slack in the line should be handle better. You are an experienced pilot. You have many tools to do that better. If you need ideas talk to your buddies. Third, glad you got off as quick as you did after the signal. All of us CFIG's and Tow Pilots appreciate that the most.

Looks like a pretty difficult place to be if you get low - lots of trees, few landout options.

It’s weird, I’m not a pilot (unless you count simming which I definitely don’t) but even without looking at the time left in the video I knew something was off. Looked into things a bit more after watching this and learned about “waving off” and then rewatched it. It was a fun watch. How does a glider pilot deal with a problem like this if you’ve not got enough altitude to make it back to the airfield? Pray?

Caution, wake turbulence.

Nice to see you posting soaring videos again. Thank you.

Jeez... not many line break options there ...

Is this at Wurtsboro NY airport?

neat

nice mike

Hi there, I am canadian musician and have just finished recording a few tracks as a little side project. Would I be able to use your video as a music video to back my track? Cheers!

Fantastic! Happy belated birthday Mr. Padgett!