Highpoint Aviation Airfield is located about 3 miles south of Cumberland, MD on top of Knobley Mountain (elevation 1510'). HPA is host to the Cumberland Aircraft Model Society club whose members have a wide range of interest. Several weeks ago we held an aerotowing clinic for beginners and 30 people attended. One of those people came back today with his first model setup for aerotowing.
He had a Great Planes Spirit Elite that he had considered motorizing but after trying aerotowing at our clinic, he decided instead to put a tow release in it. ButchB hooked him up to his O.S. 81FS-a 4-stroke powered Telemaster 40 and off they went...no problem, good landing...second tow, again, no problem and good landing...third tow and DavidR pointed the nose of the Spirit out toward the valley and rode the lift for the next hour. After that landing you couldn't wipe the smile off of his face! He said that up to this point, a long flight with the Spirit was 10 minutes!
With the tow to altitude, it is much easier to get out into the lift and then to get a serious flight. The Spirit Elite was amazingly mild mannered on tow and did an absolutely fine job. I know people have asked my opinion about this 2M sailplane as a tow subject and I really didn't know what to tell them. Now we can say with confidence that is is a worthly subject. It, like the Easy glider, is MUCH easier to tow that say a scale 2.5M ASW-28 model.
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