Cumberland Aerotowing Circa 1977

[JimD]

We were all beginners at some point. I could remember my first efforts at aerotowing going back to 1976 and I knew there was a 35mm slide somewhere of a tow from 1977. Well, we finally got around to getting a 35mm slide scanner to convert old slides to digital media and we went on a search through the archives to find that picture take was in my memory. It took a while, but here it is!

Left to right in the picture are Bob Riggs (sailplane pilot), me (flying Sr. Telemaster), Joe Nelson (watching), Don Valentine (wing tip runner left side), Leon Neff (wing tip runner right side), the sailplane in tow, and the Sr. Telemaster taking off in a cloud of castor oil exhaust!

[JimD]

Here is a group shot of some of the guys at the field earlier in the year. Bob Rigg's sailplane (the one I was towing in the picture above) is in the foreground...can anyone identify the model?



Bob is second from the left and I am fourth from the left. Wow, only 34 years ago!

[sgu]

Cool Photos. It looks a lot like a Graupner Cirrus but not exactly....Of course the only 70s vintage gliders I know of are the Graupner and Aviomodelli I picked up at auction....whatever it is, I want one.


Edit: I'll take one of those pick-up trucks too.

dave

[JimD]

Dave, I have this recollection of it being a Graupner Cirrus...even then, I was more a tow plane kind of guy!

[sgu]

Hey Jim,
I found a photo of a Cirrus's box. The canopy in your photo seems to wrap around the wing root a little more than the Cirrus. Very similar though.
Dave

[Len]

Cool Pictures Jim

[TonyN]

I can almost smell the castor in that first picture! Thanks for bringing us back to the good old days

Tony

[JimD]

Here is another picture from the "wayback" machine...Cumberland Soar for Fun in the early 1970's



I believe the young man holding the transmitter is Jeff Mrlik (son of Jerry Mrlik, the designer of the Astro Jeff sailplane)

[Len]

Where's the runway?

[JimD]

Where's the runway?

This was well before I purchased the property and we only had access for two days each year on the first weekend of November, so the hay field was pretty rough most of the time.

I notice that there is an electric winch in use, but no retriever system. The Mrlik's came for several years and then became very competitive on the national scene. I see that Jim Ealy has a kit of this vintage sailplane.

http://www.vintagesailplaner.com/index.html