Trike Aerotowing

Equipment

The glider pilot uses exactly the same equipment (launch dolly, release, weak link, etc.) for trike aerotowing as Dragonfly aerotowing.  The tug aircraft itself is the only different piece of equipment.

Launch

There's no difference in launching behind a trike versus behind a Dragonfly.  Once off the dolly, though, it's preferred to climb a little higher than you would behind a Dragonfly.  15-20 feet is the recommended altitude to maintain until the trike is airborne.  The extra altitude is a safety benefit that the trike allows over the Dragonfly.  With the Dragonfly, that altitude might pull up on the tug's tail enough to make takeoff more difficult for the tug.  With the trike, however, there's no tail and no such effect.  The trike can take off easily, even if the glider's 20-30 feet above it.

On The Rope

The proper towing position is to keep the tug's nose near the horizon.  It's less critical to maintain this position, though, when towing behind a trike, again because the trike has no tail and isn't affected much by the glider's relative altitude.  In fact, if you aggressively try to keep the trike's nose exactly on the horizon, you'll end up porpoising above and below the tug.  This is because of the weight shift nature of the tug.  You're tied to the undercarriage of the trike, and your actions cause weight shift changes for the tug.  For example, if you get low and push out to climb, you create more towline tension, which pulls the trike's undercarriage rearward under the trike's wing.  Without the tug pilot's instant correction, this causes him, along with his arms and the control bar in his hands, to move rearward.  The net result is that your climb causes the tug to dive, and it's easy to end up too high after the correction.  If you then pull in to dive down to the tug, you relieve some towline tension, causing the opposite effect, and the tug will climb as you dive.  An experienced tug pilot can help minimize these effects, but the best rule of thumb is to make pitch corrections small and to be satisfied if the tug's nose is anywhere near the horizon.  We've found that a brief correction, returning to normal bar position before even seeing much change in position relative to the tug, tends to be best.  The change in relative position will lag a bit behind the correction.  Because the trike is pulling from roughly its center of gravity, rather than from a tail, the trike isn't forced to dive or climb because the glider is too high or too low.  For this reason, don't worry that the tug pilot will give you the rope if you get too high or too low.  You'll get uncomfortable with being way too high or too low before the tug pilot will.

While keeping the proper relative altitude with respect to the tug isn't as important with a trike tug as with a Dragonfly, keeping your nose pointed straight at the tug is more critical with a trike than with a Dragonfly.  For example, if you're too far to the right behind a Dragonfly, you'll pull its tail to the right, causing it to yaw to the left.  If you don't correct, you may lock out, but the tow line will still be pointed straight off the tug's tail, making it easy for him to release the rope if you fail to release.  (Remember that in aerotowing it's very possible to lock out with a tow line tension too low to break your weak link.  I've seen it happen.)  If you're too far to the right behind a trike tug, however, you cause the tow line to pull the trike into a right turn.  The tug pilot can compensate somewhat by pulling his weight to the left, but if you lock out in this position, the tow line force will overpower the tug pilot, forcing him into a steep right turn.  At this point, the tug flies more or less sideways towards you, likely preventing tow line tension from building up enough to break a weak link.  Also, since the tow line is now far from straight behind the tug, the tug's release may not work properly (I've seen this happen, too).  This is obviously a very hazardous situation for both pilots, and the only hope of escape is for the glider pilot to release or cut away from the tow line.  You can keep from experiencing this deadly situation, if you follow this simple rule: release before a lockout occurs.  Don't flirt with a lockout.  Err on the side of caution.  Be especially quick to release if you're at a low altitude.  A lockout and the ensuing "synchronized sideslips" can cause you to lose altitude at an alarming rate (around 100 feet per second, or 6,000 fpm, can be expected!).  If you lock out at 100', you could hit the ground before being able to recover - even if you hit the release as soon as you realize you're locked out!  At the least, your landing options would be extremely limited.  Keep your eyes on the tug at all times, as this helps you recognize the onset of a lockout sooner and lets you see the tug pilot's release command that he will give you if he recognizes the onset of a lockout before you do.  The best way to get a trike tug pilot to give you the rope is to flirt with a lockout.  He may not even take the time to signal for you to release, if he feels a lockout is imminent.

The trike and Dragonfly have similar towing speeds.  If you're comfortable with Dragonfly towing speeds, you won't have a problem with trike towing speeds.