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Hello, I'm Brandon Martini, a commercial pilot and flight instructor.

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And I'm Carson Vasquez, I'm a private pilot.

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And you're listening to the Aviation Mentors podcast sponsored by Stratis Financial.

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So buckle up because the aviation mentors are taking off.

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Of course, welcome back to another great and fantastic episode of the Aviation Mentors

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podcast.

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Thanks for joining us today.

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Today we're going to be talking about something that I love to do.

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It's a hobby of mine.

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And I don't get to do it as often as I would like, but it gives me goosebumps just thinking

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about doing it because it's such an abnormal thing to do in aviation.

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And that is towing gliders.

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I've been a glider tow pilot for several years now.

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And it's one of the most fun things that I get to do as a pilot.

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And it was a lot of work to work up to that to be able to do it.

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So I'm excited I get to.

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I'd love to go up and tow a glider, but I really want to be in the glider.

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Actually, there's something about it that just sounds really incredible.

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And I just don't think my landings are quite good enough to be confident I can go and fly

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one.

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Like there's a whole trend going around social media about people saying they can go and

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land an airplane, commercial airplane, without having any experience.

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And well, I think I can do it.

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Brandon probably can do it.

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But going to land a glider, I just I don't think I can.

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It sounds like a lot goes into it.

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And I understand you need a plane to get the glider to actually get up in the air.

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But Brandon, what's the process behind it?

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By the way, all these people saying they can go land a commercial airliner, they might

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land it, but that commercial airliner will never be used ever again.

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They are going to slam that thing on the ground, even if they're able to pull it off.

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They'll break gear.

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They're going to break people's backs.

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They would do all sorts of ridiculous things.

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I mean, I've done the training in those jets during my CTP course.

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And no, it's not the same as a as a piston airplane.

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Yeah, I think the only people used to landing that hard are going to be CFI is right.

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Yeah, exactly.

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They're like actually like carrier pilots, guys who guys and gals who who launch off

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the aircraft carriers, they have to slam them down pretty hard.

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So probably more like them.

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Yeah.

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So student pilots, you can be finding becoming a fighter jet pilot, go land on the carrier.

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Hey, if you've got that Redbird Sim, you can go to San Diego and go fly and land on the

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carrier.

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It was one of the first things I did when I got that Sim.

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Yep.

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And I did it.

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Brandon couldn't make me feel pretty good.

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The first time.

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Yeah, Brandon can do it every time.

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Yeah, we get it.

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We show everybody.

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I understand.

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No, the craziest part is Austin did it.

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So my son Austin, he's 12 years old.

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We've had him on here before and he landed on the first time.

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I mean, little boy knows how to fly.

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That's for sure.

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He has a good teacher, I guess.

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Yeah, I taught him pretty well.

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Yeah, exactly.

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So the process of a glider going up in the air and the glider being able to fly around

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is kind of a long one, actually.

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It takes a whole crew of people.

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You can't just go jump in your airplane and go talk to ATC and take off.

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I mean, it literally takes a ton of people to do.

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So in the morning, you have a safety briefing.

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You have the tow plane go up and do a warm up flight, make sure everything is running

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naturally.

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The one that I use is a Cessna 182 that tows gliders.

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After you have everybody there and you're doing your safety meeting, then you need to

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make sure that everyone's in the right places.

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You need people like at my glider port, we use a golf cart to tow the gliders around.

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And then somebody normally puts one wing down, that way a wing's not dragging.

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And that's how we move the gliders around.

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So we use it with like an old tow rope that's kind of frayed because you don't want to use

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that anymore for towing, obviously.

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That's a lot of pressure.

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But then what you do is the tow plane will pull the power back quite a bit and they'll

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kind of get on the runway.

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And then they will hook up the glider and then the tow plane will slowly start advancing

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forward until there's tension on the rope.

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So you want to make sure there's tension on the rope.

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You don't want to make sure there's a bunch of slack.

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Otherwise that's not going to feel good for your airplane or the glider.

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I mean, you're towing something.

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I don't know how much they weigh, but you're towing something that's quite a bit and it's

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going to yank it really badly.

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So you want to get the slack out of the rope and use hand signals to actually do that.

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There's hand signals that they use and you have a little mirror.

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At least on my 182 I have a little mirror that I'm like staring into from like a weird

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angle because it's an airplane and it's shaking.

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So I'm like trying to watch it while it's shaking.

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It's pretty funny.

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So I watch for the hand signals and once the hand signals go, they normally give a go ahead

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and take off hand signal, but I always confirm that with a radio call no matter what.

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Now they're going to be on those controls quite a bit right when they take off.

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So I'm good with them just using their hand signal as long as I've seen a hand signal

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after I made the radio call that we're going because I don't want to pull somebody when

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they're not ready to go or something like that.

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So I take off from a pretty short runway.

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So I use literally 90 to 95 percent of the runway every time I take off, especially when

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I've got full fuel and there's a glider being towed behind me.

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It's going to slow me down.

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I mean normally a 182 and I've got the flaps down the whole time doing like a climb, a

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182 will only need, I don't know, 1500 or 2000 feet maybe, but I think I use, I don't

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know how much I use at that runway, but it's got to be close to like 2800 or something.

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I mean it's significantly more towing an airplane behind you.

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So after you take off, there's a bunch of different ways you can move, but you need

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to move slowly like 10 degree banks only because you're towing this glider behind you and they

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have to mimic your control movements.

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If they go up too high or down too low or too far to the left or too far to the right,

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they can become in your wake and they do some things called boxing the wake.

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That's what a glider pilot would do when they're practicing for like a check ride or something.

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But they have to basically be on it with you the whole time.

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So there's no communication.

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They're just literally following you.

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So if you're like following a car on the freeway really close to them going like 80

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miles an hour, that's pretty much what you're doing with the glider, but you're getting

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really really close.

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Really close meaning as long as the tow rope is out obviously.

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So after you get up to your altitude that you wanted to release at, then the glider

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pilot will actually pull his release.

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There's dual releases on both.

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So if there's an emergency or something, I can pull my release and if they want to get

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off, which they will at some point at whatever altitude.

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So if we start catching lift or something like that, they may get off earlier than expected.

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But generally I'll go up to 3,500 or 4,500 feet and I'll just go nice slow circles or

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big rectangles.

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Like in the ACS it talks about rectangular patterns and that's mostly for rectangular

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patterns at airports obviously.

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But I also use them for towing gliders.

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So I make rectangular patterns with towing gliders and I like to stay out of the way

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of the other airplanes that are at the airport and other gliders of course.

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So you're always looking out for other gliders and other airplanes because most of the time

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you're doing these glider tows, they're also in a non-controlled area where people don't

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have to have radios.

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They could be in really old J3 cubs or something and they don't have radios or not even an

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electrical system.

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So you need to kind of look out for those things in addition.

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But once the glider unhooks, you kind of feel like a weight's literally been lifted off

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your shoulders and the plane starts accelerating quite a bit more because now you're not pulling

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this giant thing behind you.

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And then yeah, you just go back and land.

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I always, I mean a 182 is going to not glide as far as a glider, right?

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That says it in its name.

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So I always land first with the tow rope attached to me.

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So I've got this 50 or 100 foot tow rope behind me and it's just dangling.

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So I have to make sure I come in a little high so I don't hit like any power towers or

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telephone lines or anything like that, or even the fence right before the runway.

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I don't want to obviously hit and drag one of those things that's going to cause me to

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crash or something will happen to the rope at least.

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And I don't want that to happen.

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So you just have to come in a little bit higher and do a steeper descent on your final descent

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to landing on the numbers or whatnot.

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And once you do that, you land and you get off the runway.

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And normally I'll leave the engine running if there's a glider after glider that wants

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to go up.

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But if there's not, I'll just go turn off the tow plane and I'll just wait and I'll

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sit in the plane and eat a sandwich or drink water or something.

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I'll just wait till somebody calls me back over again and I'll do the same thing over.

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I'll get on the runway and I'll do the whole deal.

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But it's kind of neat.

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Then you're like literally sitting next to the runway staring at it, waiting for somebody

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to give you hand signals.

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And then you get to see this glider land right in front of you like 50 feet away, which is

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pretty neat.

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Most people don't land 50 feet away from somebody else.

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That's not very normal.

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So it's kind of a neat thing to see and watch.

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That sounds really cool.

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And you said that there's like a 50 or 100 foot rope.

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So is there a lot of room for error or do you have to be super precise when you're pulling

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these planes?

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You have to be precise when you're taking off.

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Like getting rid of that slack is really important.

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And then I would say if you try to bank 30, 40 degrees, that's going to be way too much

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with somebody behind you.

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It's just not going to work.

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So yeah, you got to be careful of that.

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Another thing is a rope break.

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A rope can break at any time.

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So there's something called a weak link, and that's typically where the rope will break

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and it's in there on purpose.

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So that's attached to the glider.

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We also, like I said, the rope can really break anywhere you want.

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So you're always inspecting the rope before you start towing, things like that.

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If you start seeing fraying happen, then hey, it's time to get a brand new rope because

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you don't want the rope to break.

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The rope breaks.

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That glider is unpowered, so they're just going to land wherever they can.

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If it's a field, it's a field.

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Whatever it is, they're going to land in it.

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And there's a lot of gliders that land in fields, by the way, especially because gliders

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do cross-country flights.

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Yeah, I know it boggles my mind.

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You should have seen Carson's face right now when I said gliders do cross-country flights.

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That was kind of my perspective when I heard about it too.

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What do you mean they do a cross-country flight?

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How do they get back?

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A plane goes with them?

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There's normally a team that tracks the plane and they'll go pick them up out of a field

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or they can make it to another airport.

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I mean, if they're lucky.

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I don't even know how to react to that.

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I didn't know you could do that.

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That sounds crazy.

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Same thing happens with hot air balloons, by the way.

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Hot air balloons have landing locations, but they're just empty fields.

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That's all they are.

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And they normally have like eight or 10 different...

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That's actually a cool episode.

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We should talk to a balloon pilot one day.

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If anybody on here is a balloon pilot or you know a balloon pilot, let us know.

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I met one when I did a balloon ride about a year ago.

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Maybe we should...

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I'll see if I have his phone number and try to get him on.

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But it was neat.

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They told me they have like six different landing locations because only one out of

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the six will end up being okay because of the wind or whatever you might have.

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So balloon pilots crazy.

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But gliders are very similar.

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You get to control the glider a little bit more at least, but it's still running around.

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Yeah.

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So Carson asked a couple of questions on our show prep.

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So I'm going to kind of address them.

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He asked, can you have a mismatched climb speed?

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The answer is no, not really.

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I can slow down and the glider will also slow down.

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But if I like pull power and like yank up or yank down, obviously the glider is going

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to do everything that I do and might make things bad for me.

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So if I pitch the nose drastically down, the tow rope will now be up.

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So that could get in the way of my elevator because it's attached all the way to the back

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00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:32,880
of the airplane.

236
00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:35,380
So you have to be careful.

237
00:12:35,380 --> 00:12:39,640
That's why I said no more than like 10 degree banks and even climbs shouldn't be that steep

238
00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:40,640
either.

239
00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:44,360
Not that they really can be considering how slow you're going anyways.

240
00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,960
So you can't really have a mismatched climb speed, but you can get yourself in a hairy

241
00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:50,080
situation.

242
00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,220
Glider overrunning a tow plane is another question he asked.

243
00:12:53,220 --> 00:12:54,220
It's not very likely.

244
00:12:54,220 --> 00:12:56,260
It's not that possible.

245
00:12:56,260 --> 00:13:02,300
But I guess if I got myself into slow flight and I started slowing down to go and go down,

246
00:13:02,300 --> 00:13:05,480
the glider could hit me from behind.

247
00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:12,000
But in that instance, I would either break off my tow rope because I have an emergency

248
00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,920
release or the glider would break off their tow rope.

249
00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:20,320
If there's ever a hairy situation, you just break off no matter what.

250
00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:22,160
And kind of emergency procedures with that.

251
00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:24,160
I'm not going to get into all of them, obviously.

252
00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:30,300
But if something doesn't feel right as the airplane pilot, your number one job is to

253
00:13:30,300 --> 00:13:31,880
release the tow plane.

254
00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,240
So you have to aviate, navigate, communicate.

255
00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:38,440
That's the three things you've got to do in that order for a reason.

256
00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:42,960
So if I have a problem with my airplane, if it's not maintaining power or I'm unable to

257
00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:47,480
climb or something like that, I'm going to release that tow plane immediately.

258
00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:50,040
If something doesn't feel right, I just release them immediately.

259
00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:55,480
And unfortunately, it's their problem on figuring out how to get back to the airport or land

260
00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:56,480
in a field.

261
00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,280
It kind of sucks.

262
00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:05,520
But it's either I kill myself and them with the tow plane and the airplane, or I can just

263
00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,800
release them and I know I'm going to get back and they have a really good chance because

264
00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:09,800
they're a glider.

265
00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:11,920
They can glide and they can go a lot slower and they've got speed brakes.

266
00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,760
They've got all sorts of cool things that can help them land.

267
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,920
So the emergency procedures, there's a handful of them.

268
00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:23,000
But the main one is just if your life's in danger or the plane's in danger, just release,

269
00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:24,040
separate from each other.

270
00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,920
You don't need to be hanging on.

271
00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:31,240
If you're on like a, I don't know if you did it with your sister when you were younger,

272
00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,440
but I know I did it with my sister, or both my sisters.

273
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,120
They sit inside the back of a wagon or something and you're just pulling them really, really

274
00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:39,120
fast.

275
00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:44,160
And if you turn really hard, they're going to flip over.

276
00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:48,040
And if you trip, you better just release them or that thing's going to run up on top of

277
00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:49,040
you.

278
00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:51,040
So same concept, essentially.

279
00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:52,640
I get it.

280
00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:53,640
It's actually pretty funny.

281
00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:57,280
The mother bird is kicking the babies out of the nest.

282
00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,640
You're on your own.

283
00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:01,920
But how are you communicating with the glider?

284
00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:07,280
You said that there's radio calls or hand signals, but what radio calls are you making?

285
00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,080
What hand signals are you guys giving each other?

286
00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:10,080
Yeah.

287
00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,160
So radio calls are saying, I'm ready to go.

288
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:19,720
Actually if you go on the Soarin Society, ssa.org, which I've been a member of for,

289
00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:26,080
I think since 2017 or 2018, there's a list of hand signals.

290
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:32,560
There's a tow release, there's a take up slack, there's a hold, pilot ready, begin takeoff

291
00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:37,280
with the ground crew, begin takeoff.

292
00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:42,160
The glider pilot will actually waggle the rudder, which is kind of neat.

293
00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:46,480
Stop engine or release tow plane, emergency stop operation.

294
00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:48,240
That one looks just like you would think it is.

295
00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:51,960
Like you just wave your hands all on the air like frantically and that means stop.

296
00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:52,960
It's an emergency.

297
00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,400
Cut it out.

298
00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:00,920
So there's a lot of signals you can do with hand signals and whatnot.

299
00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,160
Also there's some airborne signals.

300
00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:09,040
So when you're the glider in the back, you can kind of control the tow plane a little

301
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:10,040
bit.

302
00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:15,040
So if I pull all the way hard to the left and get in the wake of the airplane, I can

303
00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,760
actually pull the tail towards them.

304
00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:19,860
If I'm in that tow plane, I can pull the tail.

305
00:16:19,860 --> 00:16:23,880
So obviously they're trying to tell me something and that normally means, hey, start a right

306
00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:29,520
turn or if they're pulling all the way to the right, it means start a left turn.

307
00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:30,800
Same things like that.

308
00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,460
Also sailplane cannot release.

309
00:16:33,460 --> 00:16:38,840
They move all the way out, they release some slack and then they rock their wings like

310
00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:40,500
frantically.

311
00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:44,180
So there's also a few other ones too, which are pretty neat.

312
00:16:44,180 --> 00:16:50,560
So I really suggest going to Soaring Society, ssa.org forward slash soaring dash signals.

313
00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:55,180
And you can actually see all the ones that the American Soaring Society recommends for

314
00:16:55,180 --> 00:16:57,360
American Soaring signals.

315
00:16:57,360 --> 00:16:59,680
In Europe, they are a little bit different.

316
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,720
I don't know what they are in Europe because I've never been to Europe.

317
00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:05,020
So that's it.

318
00:17:05,020 --> 00:17:09,940
Also most people have handheld radios, but not all.

319
00:17:09,940 --> 00:17:12,740
So sometimes you can only use those signals.

320
00:17:12,740 --> 00:17:15,840
And then you always do a preflight briefing like I talked earlier.

321
00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:19,040
And then you also set your squat code to 1201.

322
00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:25,680
And to be honest, I'm not sure if that's just a club requirement and maybe that was discussed

323
00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:33,360
with ATC a long time ago, or if that's a actual code that's supposed to be used for all sailplanes.

324
00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:36,040
So I don't know the answer to that, to be honest.

325
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:43,720
But most of the sailplanes do not have ADS-B and do not have transponders in them or electrical

326
00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:48,160
systems, for that matter always.

327
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,600
So the tow plane is the one that's going to have that 1201 code for sure.

328
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:52,600
Got it.

329
00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:54,720
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

330
00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:57,480
And before we start on this topic, just one more question.

331
00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:04,160
I was just thinking, if you have to abort a takeoff and you're pulling a glider, what

332
00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:08,280
are you supposed to do?

333
00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,840
If you're aborting a takeoff, wouldn't they just stop and or wouldn't you stop and they

334
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:12,840
just hit you?

335
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:14,880
Do they have brakes?

336
00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:15,880
They have brakes, yeah.

337
00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,680
So they have air spoilers and they have actual brakes.

338
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:25,240
So if I had to abort the takeoff, then yes, I would just stop and I would abort the takeoff

339
00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:29,760
and I would probably pull their link right away.

340
00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,440
And you have abort procedures.

341
00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:34,560
So you talked about it before.

342
00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:38,760
So if the tow plane is going to abort and go right, the sailplane will abort and go

343
00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:40,060
left.

344
00:18:40,060 --> 00:18:44,560
So you already know what's going to happen or go straight ahead, kind of depending on

345
00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,760
whatever the field or the terrain around you is.

346
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:49,920
So you try not to have those problems.

347
00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:53,960
That's why you go pre-flight the airplane and then you go do a test lap because most

348
00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:58,560
problems on an airplane are going to happen or sailplane are going to happen during the

349
00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:03,080
first takeoff and the first landing and the first climb, like all of that stuff.

350
00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:05,800
That's usually when problems arise.

351
00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:11,720
That's why you always hear on like on the news, an airplane crashed or something like

352
00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:12,720
that.

353
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:17,200
And most of the time it's because of fuel or when I say because of fuel, it's either

354
00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:21,320
not having enough or there was water in it or contaminants in it or something like that.

355
00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,120
It's not normally a mechanical issue.

356
00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:27,320
So you just that's why you go do that initial flight in the beginning.

357
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:28,960
Got it.

358
00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:29,960
I get it.

359
00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:33,680
But let's change the subject a little bit away from the airplane and more towards the

360
00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:34,760
pilot.

361
00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,680
So what are the requirements for you to fly as a tow pilot?

362
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,040
And I know you said that the club that you fly, it's a 182, but what kind of plane you're

363
00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:43,040
going to be flying?

364
00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,120
Is it typically a 182 or something like that?

365
00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:49,600
Carson, how many hours total time do you have?

366
00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:51,600
I got about 250.

367
00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:52,600
250.

368
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:53,600
Guess what?

369
00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:59,040
I'm qualified to be a tow pilot kind of in a few other things.

370
00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:03,040
But you have to hold at least a private pilot certificate with appropriate category and

371
00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:04,680
class rating.

372
00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:10,160
So if you are towing gliders with like a Pawnee, then you need to also have a tailwind endorsement

373
00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:16,000
and a high performance endorsement and the tow pilot endorsements sort of talk about

374
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:17,640
in a second.

375
00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:23,440
So if you're flying a single engine land airplane, like a 182 like I'd use, then all you have

376
00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:28,120
to do is have time and category and class single engine airplane, right?

377
00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:32,640
That's all of your, not all, but most of your category and class time, right?

378
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:38,360
Also you need to have logged a minimum of 100 hours of PIC in the same category and

379
00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:40,640
class of airplane as well.

380
00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:44,960
So that's why I asked you how many hours you have and you said you have around 250.

381
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:49,200
So that means you probably have more than 100 hours of PIC time.

382
00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:57,000
And if you don't, then you've signed into a very long time.

383
00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:58,000
It's possible.

384
00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:04,640
I know people that have 250 hours and only have 150 of PIC, which is pretty crazy.

385
00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:06,320
They're just slow movers and it happens.

386
00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:08,360
No big deal.

387
00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:11,520
You also have to have a logbook endorsement from the instructor certifying that you've

388
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:16,800
received ground and flight training in gliders and is proficient in the areas listed in

389
00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:22,760
61, 69, alpha three, I through IV.

390
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:29,760
So I actually have those and what those are, it's tow training endorsement by an instructor

391
00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:35,000
and then a tow proficiency endorsement by a private instructor.

392
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:36,960
So you have to have those two things.

393
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,760
But outside of that, you just really need to really know your airplane.

394
00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:44,520
I think in my club, you actually have to have 50 hours in a 182 for the insurance purposes,

395
00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:46,200
which I've have a lot of.

396
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,640
I have at least over 100 hours in 182.

397
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,000
So you actually have to have that in addition.

398
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:57,480
Some of the other tow plane locations that I've been to, they use tail wheel aircraft

399
00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,760
and they're single seat tail wheel aircraft.

400
00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:05,760
So they actually make you have like two or 300 hours tail wheel and be very proficient

401
00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:07,800
with it.

402
00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:11,540
And then they basically just hand you the keys to the airplane and like, go have fun.

403
00:22:11,540 --> 00:22:13,620
You have to know how to fly.

404
00:22:13,620 --> 00:22:16,680
And if you don't know how to fly, it's not going to work out for you.

405
00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:22,120
So the clubs themselves may have different requirements because of insurance.

406
00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:24,340
Insurance rules everything in the aviation world.

407
00:22:24,340 --> 00:22:28,040
And it's just kind of how it is.

408
00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:32,560
And last question is, I'm sure a lot of people are going to ask this.

409
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,560
So how do you get into towing lighters?

410
00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:41,320
It's kind of a niche thing to start doing, especially when it's not in every airport.

411
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,000
So how do you get into it?

412
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:53,120
So what I did actually is I've always heard the saying that if you're a glider pilot,

413
00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:57,240
you will be a better pilot overall because you'll know what it's like to handle an emergency.

414
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,900
You'll know what it's like to land without an engine and you'll know what it's like to

415
00:23:00,900 --> 00:23:02,560
manage energy.

416
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:07,360
And energy management in airplanes is not taught as much as it should in learning how

417
00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:10,160
to fly a private pilot all the way up to commercial.

418
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:11,600
They don't talk about energy management.

419
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:16,980
Most people don't talk about energy management until you're doing aerobatics or they kind

420
00:23:16,980 --> 00:23:21,760
of talk about energy management when you're doing a spin because you have to pull power,

421
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:23,400
part of the pair acronym.

422
00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,960
But people don't actually manage the energy.

423
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:31,360
I manage the energy a lot when I'm doing multi-engine flying, especially single-engine multi-engine

424
00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:33,120
flying.

425
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:39,160
That's energy management based on airspeed and density altitude and VMC speed, all these

426
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:40,760
different things.

427
00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:44,120
But most people don't talk about it at all.

428
00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:48,480
So I wanted to be a better pilot and that's why I started looking for gliders.

429
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,980
So I actually started looking up like, what's all the endorsements you can get as a private

430
00:23:51,980 --> 00:23:53,720
pilot or an instrument rated pilot?

431
00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:58,560
And I saw a tail wheel, of course, and I see high performance and complex, which I already

432
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,080
had all three of those.

433
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:02,840
So you've always been a collector.

434
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,480
I've been a collector of ratings and endorsements, yes, for a long time.

435
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:08,600
It's one of my favorite things to do.

436
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:10,560
I know that sounds crazy, but it is.

437
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,880
So I found this glider place and it was in Lake Elsinore.

438
00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:17,440
And I think it was Lake Elsinore, Soaring or something.

439
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:18,440
I'm not sure what it was.

440
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,640
I don't go there anymore, so I don't know the name.

441
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:25,760
But I went there and I met a guy named Joe Scarcella, which has now become a great friend

442
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:26,760
of mine.

443
00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:27,840
He's also a DP for gliders.

444
00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:29,680
And he did my first flight.

445
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:32,080
He's a great guy.

446
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:37,080
He's this short Italian dude who just has an attitude, but he's totally soft in the

447
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:38,080
inside.

448
00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:39,080
He's an awesome guy.

449
00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,080
And shout out to Joe.

450
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,000
If you ever get a chance to fly with him, you should.

451
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,980
He's a great pilot and fantastic guy.

452
00:24:45,980 --> 00:24:49,920
But I meet him after I go take the safety quiz and stuff and they make me take all these

453
00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,960
tests on safety, which was really good.

454
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:58,240
And then Joe and I get in the sailplane and I'm like, unsure of what I'm going to be

455
00:24:58,240 --> 00:24:59,240
doing today.

456
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,040
Like how much work am I going to be doing in this airplane?

457
00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,320
Is he going to let me fly it at all?

458
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:04,340
I don't know anything.

459
00:25:04,340 --> 00:25:06,280
My expectations were very zero.

460
00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:07,880
I didn't know what to expect.

461
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:13,980
So we get up in this glider and he shows me what it's like to get pulled by an airplane.

462
00:25:13,980 --> 00:25:15,560
That was an exhilarating experience.

463
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:20,400
I was up there with landing on water for the first time.

464
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,000
So we get up there and he shows me all these different things.

465
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:24,000
We end up staying.

466
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,720
There was no lift, so we're only up there for like 20 minutes that day.

467
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,920
But then after we got back down, he showed me how we land.

468
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:35,520
I did most of the landing, but he did the speed brakes and stuff like that because you

469
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,680
have to use energy management a little bit differently.

470
00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,240
So we ended up doing that and that's how I kind of got started.

471
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:42,840
But it all started on a Google search.

472
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:46,960
I just looked up where can I go fly gliders at?

473
00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:48,680
And then I looked.

474
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:50,180
You can also look at your sectional.

475
00:25:50,180 --> 00:25:55,200
So your VFR section will have little pictures of gliders all over it.

476
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,560
Go find those little pictures of gliders and then if you have four flight, just click that

477
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,600
and you'll find whatever soaring location there is and you can call them and ask how

478
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:02,600
you can get started.

479
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:04,760
But I highly suggest it.

480
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:05,760
It was exhilarating.

481
00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:06,760
It was fun.

482
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:08,440
I still don't have my glider rating yet.

483
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:12,840
I didn't go enough, but I do enjoy towing gliders.

484
00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:13,840
That is enjoyable.

485
00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:19,160
Yeah, well, towing gliders, it's not something many pilots consider as a way to even build

486
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:20,160
hours.

487
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,080
A lot of people just don't even think about it.

488
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:26,440
And most people think of doing long cross-country flights or getting some sort of a low time

489
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:32,000
commercial pilot job or doing volunteer flights like we talked about in our last episode.

490
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,240
But as pilots, we really just continue to learn and grow with every flight.

491
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,760
So I hope this episode has added kind of a new dimension to your understanding of the

492
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:40,560
aviation world.

493
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:41,560
Absolutely.

494
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,520
Go and get that glider rating.

495
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,700
Go get your glider tow pilot endorsements.

496
00:26:47,700 --> 00:26:51,960
Go do all the things that are fun to be doing as a pilot.

497
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:57,920
It's not all just flying from point A to point B or flying with passengers.

498
00:26:57,920 --> 00:26:58,920
It's more fun than that.

499
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,840
Go do some cool things and you will really enjoy it.

500
00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:04,640
I know that, like Carson said, you're a rating collector.

501
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:05,640
I am.

502
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:06,640
I love collecting them.

503
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:10,640
The only one I don't have right now is the night vision goggles one because I don't know

504
00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:11,640
how to get it.

505
00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:12,960
I've looked it up and no one offers it.

506
00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:14,720
I'd have to be in the military to get it.

507
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:16,680
But I really want night vision goggle training.

508
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:18,640
I think that would be so rad.

509
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:22,160
So if anybody's on here who has a connection to get me night vision goggle training, I

510
00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:29,600
am 100% in and I would virtually have no budget because it's that freaking cool.

511
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:31,840
Kevin might be able to help you out with that one, right?

512
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:32,840
You know what?

513
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:33,840
Maybe he could.

514
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:34,840
Yeah, yeah.

515
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:35,840
We've got a guy.

516
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:36,840
Yeah.

517
00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,280
As always, if you want to reach out to either one of us, you can reach us via email.

518
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:45,320
You can reach me at Brandon at AviationMentors.com or Carson at AviationMentors.com.

519
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:49,160
And as a wrap up for the day, remember, we're here to guide you in your aviation journey.

520
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:59,840
So fly safe and enjoy the ride.