Letter to Tug Pilots - PC has written to you all recently on a number of points. I agree with the points raised and I also recognise that it requires a degree of self discipline to avoid drifting away from our tried and tested standard procedures. All the information you need to do the job well is contained in the tug manual and other parts of this website. I urge you to revisit it from time to time and keep yourself in tune. I also agree that we probably do have the best towing operation of any Club and that is the sum of all our contributions. You should be proud of that and your place in that team.

You can review the letter here.

Starters and Starting - You may be aware that we have suffered a number of starter failures in the last year or so. Aidan has been replacing them with the newer and, so far, more reliable "Skytech" type, only UA and CA still have the old type. With them comes a warning though;

It is important that the engine is started with the LEFT MAG only selected. This is to avoid the engine "kicking back" which can be very damaging and very expensive. This has always been the correct procedure but it is especially important now due to the increased speed at which the starter now cranks the engine. It is fast enough, in fact, for the right mag to produce a spark without the aid of an impulse spring as fitted to the left mag. The right mag is further advanced than the left mag hence the risk of "kick back" during starting.

New Tug Pilot - Welcome to Monu Ogbe who has just started his training to be a tug pilot.

CC - It's back, it's looking good and it's available for towing.

Anyone that previously flew XI may fly without restriction. Aidan has fitted the four bladed prop from CB which means familiar characteristics and 100 kt descent at 2100 rpm.

Be aware radio is a bit crackly and has only a short range, but is suficient for launching. This due to be fixed next week.

Take Note: The brakes are new and drag a little and remember they activate at half rudder travel. Also make sure nose wheel is straight on tug mover, otherwise brakes will come on.

Bent prop - On investigating a drop in performance with UA, it was discovered that the prop was bent at one end. It can only have occurred by pulling the aircraft from the tip of the prop. Whilst I can't believe any tug pilot would have done this, it may well have been done by "willing helpers".

Please avoid contact with tugs as much as possible, use the tug mover for the Robins and supervise moving the Super Cub carefully. Only pull on the prop at the root, no pushing on the tailplane, and if you have to push on the struts do it close to their attachments to the fuselage.

New Tug Pilots

Welcome to Adrian Lake (left) and Mike Poole who have joined the Tug Pilots.

Prop Changes - XI will be out of action for a while. We have changed props around as follows;

YM - Our 4 blade ITP propeller, previously fitted on CB is now fitted. This will change the characteristics to that of XI and CB. So please use those parameters, listed in Climb/Descent table under "Operational" tab. The ASI error is still a problem, so for climb only, fly 70kts indicated to achieve 65kts actual.

CB - Our "cooking" 4 blade prop is now refitted. No change to climb/descent parameters.

WATER in FUEL - We have recently identified contamination/water in the fuel samples. It is important that a fuel sample, using a clean and empty jar from the rack, is taken every day before refuelling.

It is equally important to take a fuel drain sample, from each tug during the DI before use.

Aidan is working on a solution.

Precautions to take

• Operate carb heat immediately after a cold engine start.
• Operate carb heat prior to take-off.
• Check that max rpm is attained during take-off.
• Operate carb heat in descent, if the flight has gone up to or beyond cloudbase.
• Operate carb heat during or after prolonged ground running.
• Operate carb heat during the approach checks as normal.

Remember normal carb heat operation is to select for 10 to 20 seconds and then return to cold.

A few days recently have started with a frost and sub zero temperatures. In such cases, DI the tug|(s) in the hangar and then pull out just before they are needed, start up and warm up as soon as you can and then tow straight away if possible. This should reduce the possibility of frost forming on the wings and engine parts.

Tug Team stroll to victory in the Full Cat Challenge - Pictured below is the Tuggy Team led by Pete Claiden, Robin and Emily became honorary tug pilots for the evening. Well done guys.

Left to right; Robin, Nick, Emily, Nicola,PC,Chris,Dave and Nick

Summer Stats - A mixed bag. 2005 figures, 2004 figures.

• July 1297 994 1034
• August 1023 1267 989
• September 600 691 689

The large figure for July includes the Junior Nationals, but the differences are mainly due to weather. Overall the story is not so good. To the end of September 2006; down 6.6% on 2005, down down 10.3% on 2004, The tows between now and the end of the year are similar most years, so on that basis we are heading for our lowest total in 12 years! Pilot stats have been updated to the end of September. It is good to see that the towing has been well shared.

YM - A 4 bladed prop was fitted just before the Juniors. It is in fact the propeller that was originally fitted to CA and used by the Swiss club. It is a coarse pitch prop and not one that we would choose for towing, however we decided to try a period of time with it fitted as a comparison with the 2 blade prop you are familiar with.

So far it seems at least comparable with the 2 blader, so we will leave it fitted for a little longer.

Operationally it is almost identical to the 2 blade prop, so use existing 2 blade procedures and the same YM parameters (110 and 2000). You will also notice a lower initial rpm of around 2400 which increases to 2500 at tow speeds.

A Great and Sad Loss

We have all been saddened to hear of Terry McGee's death during his French Holiday. He will be greatly missed as a Club Member, Tug Pilot and good friend to us all.

Airspace Changes - May 11th saw some major changes to our airspace. Every pilot must have an airspace briefing. Not surprisingly there are some changes to our tow procedures as a consequence.

1. It is now unlikely we shall tow above 4000' agl.

2. The tow out route South of the airfield when Luton are using 08 is essentially unchanged. The 1000' box is now superfluous and you can route further South if you wish, however, you must exit this box North Eastwards before climbing through 1000'agl. Click here to check the diagram.

3. When Luton are using 26; CTA8 may be used to 4000' agl. Also glider pilots may use LGC 26 Airspace, subject to radio clearance. Click here to check the chart.

4. When Luton are using 08; The railway line effectively limits our towing to the West, though this unlikely to trouble us with an Easterly wind. The Spin area is available to 4000' agl and you will need to learn the new line. The "Tree" still features, the Totternhoe Quarry and the one by the A5 help to locate the Southern boundary. The A5 neatly defines the Eastern end. Click here to check the chart.

5. Infringements by gliders, or tugs for that matter, can't be tolerated. As a tug pilot you should be alert to anything in the "wrong" place and you may have to "fly alongside" to alert the pilot that he is somewhere he shouldn't be.

6. If you are not sure about any of this, please ask Andy or me for further clarification.

UA breaks a leg - UA showed her age today, with the welded undercarriage support for the right wheel giving way. Fortunately when this happens, or a bungee failure happens, the prop still remains clear of the ground and is usually undamaged as is the case this time.

UA will be out of service until repairs can be made, hopefully during the coming week.

Which tug? - The choice of tug to use is still causing problems. We have tried, unsuccessfully so far, to advise tug status via this website. At the moment the tug status board is the only indicator of which tug to use so please check this. I realise that accessing tugs is often impossible, or at best difficult especially with the motor glider blocking aircraft. Putting some thought into packing the hangar at the end of the day can assist greatly. For example parking the motor glider so that only one tug is blocked and the other 3/4 remain accessible.

Right now we have a need to utilise the Super Cub for pilot currency, and the status board suggests using CB ahead of CA. So CA is blocked by the motor glider and the other 3 tugs are accessible.

Super Cub flying - UA has had another extended visit to the maintenance hangar. This means that Super Cub flying currency is again an issue. The aircraft is now serviceable and as I write this, accessible from the front of the hangar.

If you managed to fly UA during November 2005 and can find a suitable opportunity to fly UA in the next 3 weeks, you may re-familiarise yourself with the aircraft. I suggest two or three tows would be appropriate. By suitable, I mean that the wind should be light and well below aircraft limits.

If you can't comply with this, please let me know and I'll arrange for some familiarisation flying to regain your currency.

Please note that the rear control column has been removed for normal flying, and needs re-installing before any training flights can take place.

Use of 26 airspace for towing - Before flying, the office will contact LATCC and give notice of our intention to start flying. They will respond with the area that we may use. It will be determined by the operational runway at Luton, but there are also other factors which may preclude our use of 26 airspace. It is no longer acceptable to monitor the Luton ATIS for this purpose. You will have to check with the office. Obviously if the airfield status is 26, you can assume we have 26 airspace and tow accordingly. If the status is 08 because of the lack of tower controller for example, but LGC has been given 26 airspace then we should make full use of it. In this case remember to drop the glider close to the 08 boundary line or beyond.

Also when the status is 26, encourage glider pilots to request 26 on tow. This will give you greater flexibility with routing and allow the release to be inside 26 airspace.

Tug Cards - A polite request from Janet and me. This month's cards seemed particularly messy. Please take care when you fill them in as both Janet and I have to decipher the scribbles later on.

Last month's set included the following annoyances; 2 cards missing altogether, poor hand writing (use capital letters), incomplete lines (no tug pilot, no name or release height not entered), excessive crossing out (if a tow doesn't go just put a single line through the whole entry), blank lines and extra headings (the numbers on the left are used for adding up tows, if you want to separate entries draw a line over the existing lines), airspace checks to be recorded in the space provided on the back, retrieve details are particularly poor and obviously critical from a revenue point of view. Can you relate to any of these?

Stones & Propellers - After the recent dry weather some areas of the field, particularly near the Clubhouse, are full of small stones and grit that will and does damage our propellers. Generally they are easy to spot as areas without a grass covering. When pulling out tugs take them far enough in to the field so that the propeller is not located over one of these bald patches and that the subsequent taxi out can remain over grassy areas. Likewise when returning for fuel approach the stopping area from the East. See the pictures below. After refuelling make sure the tug is located for taxiing such that you again avoid these areas.

Note the area with puddles, these are now dry and contain the offending material, along with similar areas.

Please stop all tugs except the Super Cub, short of the peri-track and pull the aircraft to the pumps using the tug mover. Likewise for starting, all tugs except the Super Cub must be pushed back to the airfield side of the peri-track. I know this a pain at times, but plans are still ongoing to provide a peri-track crossing point and a taxi in - taxi out refuelling system. Work should start on this in the near future.

Finally do NOT coast across the peri-track with the engine stopped. It can only mean you have not shut down correctly and it looks and is quite unprofessional.

New Tech Log - The Tech Logs have been replaced with a new format. Each day has a single line entry, signed before and after flying. You should find it fairly self explanatory. The main difference is the calculation of hours remaining from the next check time on the page header. You will find an extra column at the end to record the daily hours. The mark 2 tech log will incorporate this.

The notification of defects will be centralized in a book which will be found by the Tug Status Board. If a tug is annotated unserviceable for any reason, then it stays that way until Aidan clears it as serviceable again. A more detailed example will be placed in the Tug Pilot Manual in due course, meanwhile, if in doubt ask.

Please update the Tug Status Board as usual. The latest tug priority will now be found on the website, along with any "stop press" information.

Left: New Tech Log, Right: Tug Defects book

Website gets a makeover - My collection of websites are now housed on another server. With the change I have taken the opportunity of modernizing the Tug Pilot Website. It is about 80% ready, but since the day to day information you use is now updated, it is probably the right time to start using it.

It is designed to be viewed on a display 1024 pixels wide, if you have a higher resolution the header will end prematurely! The menu is more comprehensive and hopefully more logical. I'm sure you will point out any errors.

www.tugpilots.co.uk will redirect automatically, the direct link is www.fly13.co.uk/Tug/index.htm

DI's - In addition to the normal aircraft check, please also check or do the following;

• Spare Rope - On board and correctly stowed. This means that the metal parts should be in the centre of the bundle and the whole bundle under the parcel shelf bungees.
• Propeller - Please clean before flying each day. Get rid of the bugs to ensure the propeller works as efficiently as possible.
• Oil - The guidance given under "Op Info" is still valid. Long operational days are now possible, so make sure the oil level is appropriate for the coming day.

Curvy skid for XI - A newly designed skid is now attached to XI. Apart from the obvious, it is designed to avoid damaging the tail end when being reversed into the tug hangar. It is only the right side that causes problems, so take extra care when using that side. The other skids may be similarly modified if this idea works.

Pilot Recency - This is a reminder to all pilots that you must fly each type at least once in the preceeding 3 months. Our current "Types" are Robin(Fixed Pitch prop), Robin(VP prop) and Super Cub.

For the Super Cub, it has been out of service for so long now no-one is current on it. Expect to see a refresher program for all Super Cub pilots published soon.

For CA, this has been out of service for 7 weeks now and it is likely some of you will be out of recency on this. It is due to return to service this week-end. If you find you are out of recency on it, contact me, Andy or Pete to arrange a refresher session.