Aerotow at Plumpton

It was time to return to the aerotow fields of East Sussex again. Summer had made a last minute comeback and pretty much most of the active aerotow pilots were out. A few were completing their aerotow training and others simply blowing off the cobwebs.

After I watched a few launches I psyched myself up for my first launch and made myself available for towing. Today I had decided to experiment with differing VG settings to see if I could make the towing experience a little more comfortable.

For my first tow, I set the VG to approximately 30%. As before the glider tended to float up behind the tug, but as my skill and technique began to improve, I handled it better than I had previously. I released at 2,100 feet then, with not even a hint of a thermal, enjoyed a fabulous smooth glide back to the field.

A couple of hours passed and with a very relaxed attitude in the field, I volunteered for my second tow of the day. Inadvertently, I put around 70-80% VG on. Others had been foot launching as part of their training, but as I was experimenting with differing VG settings, I wanted to limit changes to one variable at a time so opted to launch from the trolley.

During launch I literally popped out of the launch trolley, but this time the bar pressure felt very much reduced and I was able to match the climb of the tug with relative ease compared to my previous tows. This had to be the first time I felt relaxed on tow and I was eventually waved off at 2,000 feet.

I enjoyed a slow glide back to the field, taking me over Ditchling Beacon, eastwards along the South Downs Way and back to the landing field. With nil wind, I penetrated a long way into the landing field and almost landed on the resident cattle, but an aggressive flare stopped me short and I gently touched down and concluded a lovely day.