Back in 1973, my old orange and white checkerboard Cherokee 140 was equipped with a tow hook (and given the orange and white paint job for the purpose of attracting attention) by a former owner who wanted to try to tow banners with it. All the 337 paperwork and logbook entries showed it was approved by the FSDO on Long Island, NY as an alteration, not under any STC. After only one summer season, the logbooks showed the tow hook removed, and all passenger seats, instruments, radios, etc which were removed to reduce weight, were all re-installed. Methinks the former owner wised up quickly and decided that a 150hp Cherokee 140 was way too underpowered to tow a banner.
The outfit which comes to town occasionally to tow banners out of my home airport uses one of two planes: A Cessna 188 Ag Wagon with an O-470 and all the spray gear removed or an older Scout with 180hp and a second extra oil cooler. They only bring the Scout on fairly calm days, as it seems to have scary handling issues when trying to pick up the banner on gusty windy days where the old Ag Wagon just muscles the banner into the air with ease. I'm guessing the Ag Wagon uses a lot more fuel so they prefer to use the more economical Scout whenever they can.
