C182 STC for TOST tow hook

[John Foster]

I'm trying to find if there is an STC out there for installing a TOST tow hook (not reel) on a C182.  I'd appreciate any help finding this.  Thanks.

[Charles Longley]

Seattle Glider Council has one on there 182.  www.seattleglidercouncil.org Not sure what paperwork they did. You will want to talk to Chris Klix

[Ron Clark]

SSA says an a&p can sign it off using drawing from Cessna listed here.

https://www.ssa.org/forums/topic/tow-release-installations/

RC

[John Foster]

I sent him an email, but he hasn’t replied yet. 

[John Foster]

All the SSA documentation I could find specifically refers to a Schweizer tow hook, not a TOST. 

[Peter von Tresckow]

Well the tost catalog only lists a tow support for a 172. I'd be guessing installing a tost on an 182 would be done on a 337.

Peter

[Joe Gieseke]

It might be documented on a 337, but a 337 does not authorize an installation. 

A field approval with the FAA, documented as such on a 337 is perhaps what you mean.

Joe 

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[John Foster]

So where is this illusive STC or 337 for a TOST installation on a C182?  I've looked all over, including the SSA website, but haven't found anything.  But my "Google-Fu" is weak.

[Charles Longley]

I suspect that organizations that have placed the Tost tow release on 182's have used AC 43.13-2B for acceptable methods. Are you working with an IA?

AC 43.13-2B.pdf (faa.gov)

[Bill Tisdale]

I have not found any STC for TOST on the C-182. My last discussion with Pacific Aerial concerning the Wings Unlimited tow hook, he stated that he had a letter from Cessna authorizing a 1200# limit on the airframe where the hook attaches. It would be interesting to see the TOST installation paperwork if greater than 1200# limits are approved. The standard TOST hook is rated at about 1985# (900Kg) and the PA-25 installation bracket is rated at 1798.5# (8000N).

Bill

[Mark Mocho]

So, the answer would be to use a 1,200 lb. rated weak link (a la Tost metallic link) to limit the airframe loads and allow a higher than 1,200 lb. capacity tow rope, with a corresponding weak link at the glider end of the rope to allow for the limitations of the light or heavy glider.

[Tony Condon]

find the N number of a 182 in the field that has a TOST hook. pay the $ to the FAA for the file on that N Number. the 337 will be included in the file.

[Jeff Banks]

This shop In Canada did six 182’s for towing Canada Air Cadets. They had the TOST release 

Sincerely 

Jeff Banks

Sent from my iPhone

On May 4, 2024, at 10:46, Tony Condon <abco...@gmail.com> wrote:

find the N number of a 182 in the field that has a TOST hook. pay the $ to the FAA for the file on that N Number. the 337 will be included in the file.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rasprime/664922da-ab78-42b9-af1c-2800e9cfe0cdn%40googlegroups.com.

[John Foster]

***Rant Warning***

This has been an exercise in frustration!  It seems like there is a secret handshake or something you need to know in order to get any information on this.  It can't be this complicated, can it?  No one seems to know anything or answer my questions to my satisfaction about how to mount a TOST tow hook on a C182!  It appears I have to re-invent the wheel myself.  All everyone seems willing to tell me is to get a mechanic to design some attachment for it.  Pictures that people have sent me are small and don't show any details of how the tow hook is mounted.  

Do you bolt the TOST tow hook directly to the fuselage?  Is there a bracket the TOST tow hook bolts to that is then bolted to the fuselage?  Just one bolt at the rear tie-down eye location?  Or do you have to WELD the TOST tow hook to a metal bar or rod or bracket and then bolt it to the fuselage?  We can deal with the legalities of the paperwork, but what I'm really wanting to find out is how to actually attach it to the aircraft.  Does everyone just figure this out themselves and come up with there own solution, or is there a standard accepted solution that most people use?  What parts do I need to buy?

Please, could someone help.  It doesn't have to be this hard.  Sorry for the rant.

[Charles Longley]

Damn man don't rant. That'll get you nowhere.

Did you get the CD on N3779D from the FAA to start with? It'll have the TOST installation 337 under airworthiness. Take a look at SGC's newsletter here-  November-2023-Towline.pdf (seattleglidercouncil.org) It has pics of their 182.

Ask someone at SGC for a better picture of the installation and any drawings they might have.

[John Foster]

Sorry for the rant.  I need to type things out and then delete them without posting.  It would serve us all better.  Sorry.

No I have not gotten the CD on N3779D.  Chris K. has sent me pictures though, but they don't show the detail of the installation.  Would the CD have that?  I'm looking for pictures, measurements, materials, etc--how to actually make the installation, not just what I need signed off in the log book or what forms the FAA needs (although those are important too).  Maybe I'm just ignorant, but it seems that people use a C182 as a tow plane fairly commonly.  I would think it would be much easier to find this information than it has been.  I'm about ready to say "screw it" with the TOST and just go with the Pacific Aerial Tow Hooks solution, which comes as a complete kit and with an STC already.  But I would prefer a TOST system if we could make it work.

[Charles Longley]

OK so here’s the deal. There’s no STC to install the TOST hook on a 182 so no one is going to take the time and money to make a nice drawings. You’ll have to use AC 43.13. It’s not that complicated. If I was doing the install I would use a Schweizer release handle in the cockpit, fabricate a Bowden cable using 1/16” aircraft cable to get back to the hook. For the hook installation I would get the 337 off as many 182’s with the TOST hook that I could find. Did you ask Chris K. for the 337 on the SGC 182? Maybe look at the 172 STC to see what they did.  It’s a lot easier to duplicate a mount than to come up with something on your own. I would than fabricate the mount to attach the hook on the fuselage. You’re going to have to do a pull test anyway. What has your IA said?

[ma...@mmfabrication.com]

OK, you have to realize that anybody who has actually managed to install a TOST release on a C-182 probably spent a fair amount of time and money getting the hardware installed by an A&P, going through the FAA approval circus and waiting for the paperwork to clear. Maybe if you offered to pay a reasonable amount to reimburse them for their time and effort, they would consider helping out. Nothing in aviation is free.

[John Foster]

I'm definitely willing to pay for this (within a reasonable amount).  I expect to have to pay.   If someone has a kit that they have worked out, take my money now.  If someone has a plan/directions I can buy, just show me where I can purchase it.  If the information is out there and free, great!  But I don't expect this to be free.

It's just that 

[John Foster]

Could one of the other TOST tow supports for a different airframe be adapted to a 182?

[keith essex]

I have a 182P with a Tost hook. It was installed by Victoria Air Maintenance in BC. This is the same outfit that Jeff suggested.  They have the STC. 

[John Foster]

Thanks.  I called them, and they declined to do the work.  They said the "owner of the information" was not willing to share it either.