nbawannab

Hello guys.....I have a friend that has a Balsa USA 1/3 scale Piper and he wants to pull banners. Is there anything he needs to do specifically to do this kind of thing.....any and all info will be greatly appreciated. Thank you guys in advance

LLRCFlyer

At 1/3 scale, I suggest you use the same method as used for full scale banner towing. You will need two additional channels. One to operate a releasable tow hook on the tail of the airplane and a second channel to operate a bomb bay to release the tow line and pick-up grapple hook once airborne. The banner must be attached to a tow mast (a half inch dowel can work) to which a tow bridle is attached to the top and bottom of the mast. A weight is added to the bottom of the mast to make the banner sail upright. A line is attached to the middle of the mast's bridle on one end and the other end is formed into a large loop similar to a cowboy's lariat. The loop is then stretched between two tall stanchions to hold the loop open and well above the ground so as to make it easy to snag the loop with the pick-up grapple. The banner is laid out on the ground opposite the direction the pick-up will be made. For example, the pick-up loop and tow mast could be at the right end of the runway and the tail end of the banner towards the left end of the runway. The plane will make a low pass from right to left with the grapple hook deployed and snag the pick-up loop. Once the loop is snagged, the plane makes a sharp pull up to peal the banner back over itself and up off the ground. Pealing it up off the ground avoids the sudden high shock loads that would be encountered if the banner were to be snatched up all at once. The pilot is constantly ready to jettison the banner if it gets snagged on something or if the plane develops other problems. When the banner towing is complete, the pilot makes a low pass over the drop zone and releases the tow line, grapple hook and banner. Without the banner, the plane can then make a normal landing. The tow hook should be able to support about 1.5 to 2 times the weight of the plane. For safety, the tow line should have a breaking strength equal to a little less than the weight of the plane (in your case, about 25 to 30 pound test line should work fine).