At 15:00 Pacific time, a Piper PA-25-260 struck a fence while trying to tow a glider from a dirt field. The pilot was not injured. The glider had made a precautionary landing in the field when the pilot reported losing lift. He contacted a local soaring club and requested an aero-tow out of the field. The Pawnee pilot paced off 1,600 feet, which he calculated would be enough for the airplane and glider to take off. When the tow plane struck the fence, the glider released, cleared the tow plane by 2 to 4 feet, traveled across a road and collided with another fence. The glider pilot was also uninjured.
June 17, Coleville, Calif. / Piper Pawnee and Schleicher AS20
At 15:00 Pacific time, a Piper PA-25-260 struck a fence while trying to tow a glider from a dirt field. The pilot was not injured. The glider had made a precautionary landing in the field when the pilot reported losing lift. He contacted a local soaring club and requested an aero-tow out of the field. The Pawnee pilot paced off 1,600 feet, which he calculated would be enough for the airplane and glider to take off. When the tow plane struck the fence, the glider released, cleared the tow plane by 2 to 4 feet, traveled across a road and collided with another fence. The glider pilot was also uninjured....
Key Takeaways:
- A Piper PA-25-260 tow plane struck a fence during an attempted aero-tow of a glider from a dirt field.
- The glider had made a precautionary landing due to losing lift and required the aero-tow.
- Both the tow plane pilot and the glider pilot were uninjured, despite the glider also striking a second fence after releasing.
- The tow plane pilot had miscalculated the sufficient takeoff distance required for the combined aircraft.
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