Anyone want to tow and build time?

[Matthew]

But you don't get to take the club's planes and go flying.

You are performing a task, using tools provided by others, on a schedule set by others, under the direction of others.

If we had an employment attorney on board, that may provide the litmus test for an employee relationship, requiring pay, workman's comp, etc...... There may be minimum wage laws in effect.....


Who knows....

I don't think this is a commercial operation, this is a club.

You join the club, you pay the initiation fee (like other club members), you join SSA (like other club members), you pay dues (like other club members, except they have a different dues structure for their towpilots), you show up on weekends and support the club (like other club members), you pay rent on any club glider you fly (like other club members).

No big deal, this is the way clubs work. Maybe some are different, I don't know.

What you get that other club members don't is the chance to add hours to your power flying logbook without renting a plane. The downside, there's the saying about "Do you have a hundred hours of experience, or one hour of experience a hundred times?"

Towing is a decent way to spend a day. You fly, you sit, you wait, you fuel, you wait some more, you tow some more, you eat lunch, you monitor oil temps closer than you normally do, you tow some more, you get a feel for the pilot behind you and can recognize who it is by the way they fly on tow, you consider the student behind you and try to make a good pattern because you know that CFI is going to do a simulated rope break, you know the other guy behind you is wanting to do a 5 hour flight so you take him over to where the big thermals are usually found, you have a beer in the hangar at the end of the day, you go home.

 

[SkyDog58]

I don't think this is a commercial operation, this is a club.

You join the club, you pay the initiation fee (like other club members), you join SSA (like other club members), you pay dues (like other club members, except they have a different dues structure for their towpilots), you show up on weekends and support the club (like other club members), you pay rent on any club glider you fly (like other club members).

No big deal, this is the way clubs work. Maybe some are different, I don't know.

What you get that other club members don't is the chance to add hours to your power flying logbook without renting a plane. The downside, there's the saying about "Do you have a hundred hours of experience, or one hour of experience a hundred times?"

Towing is a decent way to spend a day. You fly, you sit, you wait, you fuel, you wait some more, you tow some more, you eat lunch, you monitor oil temps closer than you normally do, you tow some more, you get a feel for the pilot behind you and can recognize who it is by the way they fly on tow, you consider the student behind you and try to make a good pattern because you know that CFI is going to do a simulated rope break, you know the other guy behind you is wanting to do a 5 hour flight so you take him over to where the big thermals are usually found, you have a beer in the hangar at the end of the day, you go home.

Great post and absolutely the right outlook on this opportunity. Not sure why some just don't get it.

 

[Jimmy cooper]

Well, doesn't everyone "pay for training"? Is there anyone left outside the military that doesn't pay for their training to the point a few hundred hours in when they can get their first flying job? These people are paying enough to qualify to build time to get that job.

The tow pilots I've known not only did not need training as they were air line pilots, some retired, or competent high time tail dragger pilots who traded towing for some glider time, or volunteers. They were not paid, nor did they pay anything. No one in the glider wants a beginner towing them.

 

[Witmo]

The tow pilots I've known not only did not need training as they were air line pilots, some retired, or competent high time tail dragger pilots who traded towing for some glider time, or volunteers. They were not paid, nor did they pay anything. No one in the glider wants a beginner towing them.

Anyone who contemplates towing gliders needs training specific to towing. I don't care how many hours you have. I usually check out pilots towing for our club for free but I've been burned by guys that get the training from us and then tow for someone else. We've considered charging for the checkout just for that reason. It's a given that prospective tow pilots already know how to fly.

 

[Nsconductor]

The tow pilots I've known not only did not need training as they were air line pilots, some retired, or competent high time tail dragger pilots who traded towing for some glider time, or volunteers. They were not paid, nor did they pay anything. No one in the glider wants a beginner towing them.

Not only do they need training, they need a logbook endorsement to legally tow. 61.69 is your reference.

 

[Jimmy cooper]

Anyone who contemplates towing gliders needs training specific to towing. I don't care how many hours you have. I usually check out pilots towing for our club for free but I've been burned by guys that get the training from us and then tow for someone else. We've considered charging for the checkout just for that reason. It's a given that prospective tow pilots already know how to fly.

I was checked out in a scout. It took two tows. I did it for one summer off and on but found it boring. No one that I knew was low time, all were high time in taildraggers which was the only reason they asked me as the pilot did not show. Not very complicated.

 

[Witmo]

I was checked out in a scout. It took two tows. I did it for one summer off and on but found it boring. No one that I knew was low time, all were high time in taildraggers which was the only reason they asked me as the pilot did not show. Not very complicated.

Then your check out didn't meet the minimum requirements of the regulation--three actual or simulated rows along with ground instruction from an instructor who endorses the logbook.

 

[BillTIZ]

The tow pilots I've known not only did not need training as they were air line pilots, some retired, or competent high time tail dragger pilots who traded towing for some glider time, or volunteers. They were not paid, nor did they pay anything. No one in the glider wants a beginner towing them.

Every tow pilot was a "beginner" at one time.. Give them a break!

 

[BillTIZ]

Then your check out didn't meet the minimum requirements of the regulation--three actual or simulated rows along with ground instruction from an instructor who endorses the logbook.

Depends on when that happened, he could be grandfathered by towing before the endorsement was required.

 

[BillTIZ]

I did 20 tows in the Pawnee last Saturday, then swapped with another tow pilot so I could work with my glider student. Yes, he performed fine for two quick flights and got signed off for SOLO!

The club had 27 tows last Saturday with one Pawnee. Typical summer day.

 

[weilke]

When I read the thread title, I already knew what kind of reflex reaction this would receive.

I would do it. Any job paid in beer is a good job.

 

[fire11]

I spoke to Joy at Texas Taildraggers on Tuesday. She sounds like a teacher who's passionate about her subject, taildraggers. There are people who are willing to teach and there are people who are teachers…they're not the same. I can't wait to meet her and learn from her!

 

[JHW]

The tow pilots I've known not only did not need training as they were air line pilots, some retired, or competent high time tail dragger pilots who traded towing for some glider time, or volunteers. They were not paid, nor did they pay anything. No one in the glider wants a beginner towing them.

The last person I'd put in my pawnee to fly would be an "airline pilot".

And the worst job of flying I've ever witnessed was checking out a 20k hour 747 captain in his own supercub that he hadn't flown in s decade.

 

[txflyer]

I spoke to Joy at Texas Taildraggers on Tuesday. She sounds like a teacher who's passionate about her subject, taildraggers. There are people who are willing to teach and there are people who are teachers…they're not the same. I can't wait to meet her and learn from her!

She's probably the best tailwheel instructor you're going to find.

When you're about done, before she turns you loose, ask her for some spin training on your last flight. She threw in a spin refresher course for me.