Scooter Towing - what is it really?
Scooter Tow
Not all towing operations are the same.
(Blue Sky)
Regular Oz Report readers are aware that earlier this year and
last I spear headed a USHGA effort to train a small subset of instructors in the
Steve Wendt method of scooter towing instruction (http://ozreport.com/10.035#0). You can read a long series of articles about Steve Wendt's scooter tow clinic at
Quest Air in February starting here: http://ozreport.com/10.038#3.
Numerous top instructors came to Steve's seminar and were uniformly impressed by
his specific and detailed methods. It was clear to them, as their reports
display, that Steve had developed a safe and effective method for bringing new
students into the sport. Specifically, using a Wills Wing Condor, only flying in
no or light winds early or late in the day, using a well designed pulley, using
a low power scooter that makes it easy to have a wide range of throttle control,
keeping students as low as possible, putting students on the ground if they
don't do what they have been told to do, using a golf cart to bring back the
student and discuss with him/her the flight. These and many other small details
go into the making of a successful scooter tow instruction operation, of which
there are very few.
Unfortunately, there are many different ideas about how to do winch or scooter
towing many held by reputable or semi-reputable instructors and schools that
while representing their experience aren't the best ideas available. And that's
putting it kindly. There are a lot of bad ideas and unsafe practices that put
scooter towing in disrepute. There are number of instructors and tow operators
who are putting their students and clients at risk. For example,
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2266 and
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2556.
There is no mechanism for filtering through all this conflicting information and
making good decisions about best practices. The USHPA has not taken upon itself
the task of helping the hang gliding community sort out these issues and
spreading the word about good practices. The main reason for this is the
individuals in charge at the USHPA BOD level.
Discuss Scooter Tow at the Oz Report forum
Link to this article: http://OzReport.com/1149691554
