The Ever Dangerous Golf Cart Tow
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ground handling golf cart

It was brought to my attention that even more difficult than the aero-tow is towing the glider back with a golf cart. Following are my "golf cart tips for dummies" that might seem obvious, but are based on mistakes that have all been done before.

  • Make sure the rope is long enough, generally over half the wingspan of the glider. This ensures that when (not if) you get way out of position, you will not hit the golf cart with the wingtip.
  • Only tow the glider at a walking pace.
  • Do not stop the golf cart suddenly. Slow down gradually or the glider will continue to roll into the cart.
  • If you do stop too quickly, move the golf cart forward just enough to not get hit by the glider, while not pulling the glider further. Or be prepared to get off the cart to stop the glider from rolling.
  • The glider has a longer stopping distance on asphalt than grass.
  • The wing walker is steering, but they can't stop the glider from moving. If you stop too quickly, the opposite wingtip will swing around and hit the golf cart.
  • Advise the wing walker to use the shadow from the rope to assess alignment.
  • If you need someone to stop the glider, they should be on the nose.
  • The golf cart driver needs to be constantly scanning his/her surroundings while also keeping an eye on the glider.
  • Clear the runway carefully, but quickly. Dawdling then rushing to clear for landing traffic might end poorly for the nose or leading edge of the glider.
  • Once you have moved the glider with the golf cart, unhook the glider. Someone else may jump on the cart, not aware it is still hooked up to the glider.
  • Don't hold back on the wingtip to make a direction change. Push down on the nose or lift the tailboom.
  • Lock the canopy before moving. Actually, just lock it anytime it's closed.
  • Don't reach through the vent window to grab the tow-release. A shirt or arm applying a load to the vent rails might crack the canopy.
  • If there is a tailwind, the glider might not stop as quickly as you expect. If you landed long, then you will probably be towing back with a tailwind.
  • Towing downhill makes it easier for the glider to catch the golf cart.
  • Make sure the golf cart is off so it does not run away into a parked glider.
  • Have forward and reverse clearly identified. Golf carts seem to jump about 6 inches when you step on the pedal and you do not want to be moving in the wrong direction.
  • Do not tow with the wheel brake on or dragging, as the picture above could be you.

If anyone has a good one I missed, please send them my way. There will be more unfortunate ground handling incidents next week.

While gathering examples of what not to do, the best outcome from the mishandling of equipment that I came across happened to a current Commercial operator. A ground incident led the previous owner to deciding to sell and use the insurance money to front the current owner. The current owner now has multiple sailplanes and is going strong (measured by love and passion, not income).

 

garret willat  Garret Willat holds a flight instructor rating with over 8000 hours in sailplanes. His parents have owned Sky Sailing Inc. since 1979. He started instructing the day after his 18th birthday. Since then, Garret has represented the US Junior team in 2003 and 2005. He graduated from Embry-Riddle with a bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics. Garret represented the US Open Class team in 2008 and 2010 and the Club Class team in 2014. Garret has won 3 US National Championships.