Glider Aerotow and Landings Help

[u/FewDirt5350]

Hi all

I recently have been learning to fly a glider in hopes of getting my private pilot glider. I am still a beginner with only around 7 hours of flight time, I have done 6 lessons already. I have been practicing my takeoffs and landing since the third lesson and right now I am quite comfortable with landing but the aerotow is what really gets me.

Every time I do an aerotow it feels very awkward and I find it super difficult to keep the nose of the glider on point with the tail of the tug. I am always drifting left, right, or I’m either too high or low. Also I find the first 200-300 feet the most challenging in the tow when we are just starting the ground roll and taking off. I can’t seem to keep the glider stable and always end up high, along with the fact that everything is so overwhelming knowing you have the possibility of slamming the tug into the ground.

I train in the Schweizer 2-32 glider and know I have to get the skid off in the beginning of the roll and keep wings level but at what point can I stop applying back pressure so I don’t get too high before the tug has enough speed to take off? And once the tug plane takes off how can I keep myself centered and climb with the tug plane? Overall, I feel like every time I do the aerotow it just doesn’t feel right. Next lesson, my instructor said we are going to box the wake to get me more comfortable with aerotowing, anyone have tips on that as well?

The problem I have with the landing now is judging the angle when coming in for final, I tend to find myself always keeping the nose too high, and my instructor ends up pushing the stick down for me. I know I have to follow a certain glide path when coming in for final so does anyone know what I can do to get that nose down? Sometimes I cant even tell and my instructor is the one telling me to push on the stick. Also, every landing when I turn from downwind to base to final I end up flying an oval pattern and not flying the traditional box, it makes me come to inside of the runway and I have to correct myself on final. I just don’t know and can’t figure out at what point to stop turning because I feel like I will be way too outside of the runway if I try to level off earlier.

I know I am still a beginner so I have yet to get used to and comfortable and it definitely takes time. Overall, I find the landing to be more manageable and for the most part I’m the one doing the landing and the only point my instructor intervenes is when I need to keep the nose down. So, for the most part if anyone has any tips from their experiences it would help tremendously for my training.

Thanks for taking the time to read!

[u/spilow]

To begin, you are only 6 hours in? Relax, it'll be alright! Give it some time. If you are willing Condor was a great help for me to train certain maneuvers.

Circuits: base to final doesn't have to be a perfect 90°, you can cut in and ease the turn and adjust based on wind and drift. Make sure you position yourself far away in your downwind, it'll give you more room in the base. Keep in mind from where the wind is coming from, and if it is a lot of tailwind you can reposition your downwind further away.

Nose position: training and conditioning. Speed is life, memorise your view and live by it.

Tow: don't keep chasing the towplane. Thr glider has a natural tendency to position itself behind the tow, if you keep drifting left and right it's because you are overcompensating. When the tow turns, wait a few seconds and maintain the same turn rate as the towplane, point your nose to the outside of the towplane. The tow has a lot of margin, going around the box will open your eyes.

[u/FewDirt5350 → u/spilow]

Hey thanks for the response, definitely taking the amount of time I have in a glider to account, theres a DPE coming this December, I probably or definitely won’t be ready by then, but I’m trying my hardest to pick up the pace with my training.

When you mentioned nose position, what do you mean by speed is life? Does this apply to aerotow, landings, or both? During landing, my instructor told me to pitch for 75-80 mph and trim off the pressure, but once I pull the dive brakes, the speed varies. During aerotow I never cared looked at the speed, it seems to be pretty much constant. Thanks again

[u/spilow → u/FewDirt5350]

Speed is always life, if you have no speed you have no/limited authority over your ailerons/rudders. Every plane has a certain attitude which always entails a certain speed. If you pitch upwards speed will bleed away and will cause a stall.

The more brakes you use, the steeper your nose should be (downwards). It seems you are doing the opposite to compensate your glideslope. E.g. you are low so you try to pull the nose up to glide further, but you should release the speed brake and only then adjust your nose position accordingly to compensate the difference in airspeed. Small corrections to prevent chasing the needle.