Towing with Bellanca 8GCBC Scout
Mark Recht
is the performance, limitations (inc. x-wind/ strong wind), maintenance
issues, weaknesses etc. How does it compare with a 180hp Super Cub ?
Thanks for any info you can give.
Mark Recht
Armand A. Medeiros
level. The K-21 performance wasn't so hot, but it was okay. It was from a
6000' runway most of the time so no problems. With the lighter single seat
sailplanes, it did much better. Crosswinds moved it around quite a bit
(depending on the pilot also) but it seemed okay to about 8 knots. We
changed runways when it got high anyway. I could steer the Scout much easier
than behind a Pawnee...
Armand
Mark Recht <mre...@technologist.com> wrote in message
news:943718130.20747.0...@news.demon.co.uk...
Peter Story
in Bellanca Scouts... My experience has all been with the Royal
Canadian Air Cadet Program, towing Schweizer 2-33's and the odd
2-22. The Scouts that we have are all equipped with 180HP engines
and fixed pitch climb props.
From pilot's perspective, they Scout is a very nice airplane to fly. Very
stable and responsive... and (usually) quite forgiving.
I have flown them in windy conditions... again very stable...
Like most tail draggeres, they can be "fun" in crosswinds, but I have
been able to handle x-winds pushing 15Kts.
From a maintenance perspective... they can be somewhat of a problem...
The very nature of towing is hard on the engine of any airplane... so we
try to fly them so that we get a slow cool down of the engine...
We always signal release form the tow plane (rock the wings)..
but before release, throttle back to about 1800-2000 RPM... In
decsent we always try and maintain 1000 RPM until final....
Hope thsi helps the cause Mark....
Peter Story
----------------------------------------------------------
R./ H. Werneburg
many years. They both are capable towplanes although I probably would
prefer the Cub as the all-round better plane; especially from a handling
point of view. The Scout is a heavier, larger plane and requires a bit
more pilot input to make it go around corners. Ground handling is
typically on par with any taildragger. We operate at 4000' field
elevation and can tolerate 90 deg. crosswinds up to about 15 knots.
Operating costs seem to be about the same although the Scout has to have
a very detailed spar inspection program carried out.
Engine problems for both planes include cracked cylinders (watch the
cooling rate on letdown !) and other normal problems which occur in the
tough towing environment.
Hal
John Edwards
Peter Story <pws...@nospam.recorder.ca> wrote in message
news:38402B85...@nospam.recorder.ca...
> I have close to 1000 hours as a Tow Pilot, virtually all of it
> in Bellanca Scouts... My experience has all been with the Royal
> Canadian Air Cadet Program, towing Schweizer 2-33's and the odd
> 2-22. The Scouts that we have are all equipped with 180HP engines
> and fixed pitch climb props.
>
> From pilot's perspective, they Scout is a very nice airplane to fly. Very
> stable and responsive... and (usually) quite forgiving.
>
> I have flown them in windy conditions... again very stable...
> Like most tail draggeres, they can be "fun" in crosswinds, but I have
> been able to handle x-winds pushing 15Kts.
>
> From a maintenance perspective... they can be somewhat of a problem...
> The very nature of towing is hard on the engine of any airplane... so we
> try to fly them so that we get a slow cool down of the engine...
> We always signal release form the tow plane (rock the wings)..
> but before release, throttle back to about 1800-2000 RPM... In
> decsent we always try and maintain 1000 RPM until final....
>
> Hope thsi helps the cause Mark....
>
> Peter Story
>
It's a great towplane. No Pawnee, but 1/3 the price!
Cheers!
John
Peter Story
John Edwards wrote:
>
> It also did very well in high winds on route to small feilds, eh Peter?
>
> It's a great towplane. No Pawnee, but 1/3 the price!
>
> Cheers!
>
> John
All it requires is a lot of "two's"....
'Two' airplanes, 'two' hundred feet of rope, 'two' much wind, and most
importantly 'two' outstanding :-) pilots....
Ciao,
Peter
Michael
> Can anyone share their experience of the Scout as a glider tow-plane ?
How
> is the performance, limitations (inc. x-wind/ strong wind), maintenance
> issues, weaknesses etc. How does it compare with a 180hp Super Cub ?
I have only a very few tows in a Scout, so take my comments with
a grain of salt. It's not quite as docile and forgiving a taildragger as
a Pawnee - but it's very close. On a hot summer day, pulling a
Blanik L-23 with two in the glider and two in the towplane, the
performance is downright scary. This is with 180 hp and a climb
prop.
Be aware of the spar AD - that's a war that's not over yet. American
Champion would like to ground every wood-spar aircraft of Champ
lineage, and they almost succeeded in the last round.
Michael
Nathan
plane flying.
Last time I was out at the Air Force Academy they had (5) Scouts
running non-stop launching ASK-21s and 2-33s.
Nathan
Memphis Soaring.
In article <943718130.20747.0...@news.demon.co.uk>, "Mark
Recht" <mre...@technologist.com> wrote:
> Can anyone share their experience of the Scout as a glider
> tow-plane ? How
> is the performance, limitations (inc. x-wind/ strong wind),
> maintenance
> issues, weaknesses etc. How does it compare with a 180hp Super Cub
> ?
> Thanks for any info you can give.
> Mark Recht
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
Quietpilot
all of their Scout fleet to Aerial Promotions Ads (or something like that) in
Long Beach. The owner is a die-hard Scout fan. Has a fleet of something like
9 of them now.