Fwd: Pawnee Tow Release

[Brian Nightingale]

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Youngblood <youngbl...@gmail.com>
Date: June 10, 2026 at 7:12:21 PM EDT
To: Brian Nightingale <aaaseptic...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Pawnee Tow Release



Tell the boys on RAS that OBTP posted a pic of his tow release

On Wed, Jun 10, 2026 at 7:09 PM Brian Nightingale <aaaseptic...@gmail.com> wrote:

I can attest to the climb rate of the towpecker  I filmed a flight with an insta360 . 5 seconds from start of roll to airborne, 2 1/2 minutes to 2000 on a pretty hot day . Glider Standard Cirrus with a 230lb pilot

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 10, 2026, at 6:27 PM, Bob Youngblood <youngbl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Here is a pic from the pilot position , this is much better than a floor mount. OBTP

On Wednesday, June 10, 2026 at 5:29:20 PM UTC-4 Bob Youngblood wrote:

Over the years I have converted a few Pawnee's from agricultural spraying to glider tow planes. As always I remove all spray equipment including the hopper and plumbing equipment. My conversions always included eliminating the hopper loading door on the top of the hopper and fiberglass over where the hopper was which makes for a nice top deck.

After completion the current Pawnee was certified weight and balance at 1140 pounds. That along with the tweaked O-540 made it a superb tow plane that goes up like a homesick angel, just ask anyone that has been towed with the Towpecker and they will tell you the same.

The most important feature of my conversions has been the tow release handle, this is one of the most overlooked safety features on any towplane. Why, because you must be able to get to the release easily, quickly, and comfortably. There is no doubt in my mind that some tow pilot fatalities could have been prevented if the release could have been reached quickly and activated, you must be able to get to release to activate it and if you cannot then it can really turn into an ugly day. Not only for a Pawnee but all other tow planes as well, get the release handle in a location that is accessible. It will not save your life if you cannot activate the release!

I will post some pictures tomorrow that will depict how my release works. A NTSB investigator looked at my release mechanism and was impressed. He was also shown that if the release was floor mounted it is almost impossible to access in a upset situation.

The Pawnee came with a hopper dump release handle that is located just forward of the throttle and mixture control. The arm is about three feet long and is attached to the frame under the floor panel by two attach points on the same arm. It is a really strong and works flawlessly. You can do a bit of welding modification on the release cable attachment end and it makes a release handle that is the strongest that I have ever seen and you can get to the release handle with ease even in an upset situation. How do I know, I have release people before and I went home to have dinner and a few beers after the ugly event. 

I will be rebuilding another Pawnee starting next month, it will be my last, time to do more glider flying in my Lowly 27 as Jim Lee would say, what would one expect from a motorglider puke! OBTP

 

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<Tow release 1.jpeg>