Arnprior 2009 Aero-tow pics

[Jan Blom]

What a great weekend! Managed to get my repaired 5m Ventus in the air again. Second flight was 1 hour 28.5 minutes. I was almost commited to landing just after an hour when I worked some new lift near the end of the runway and got way up there again. One of the 2 Alpina 5001's had a 75 min flight using a vario. That was late in the day, mine was launched well before lunch. Saturday was clear blue skies but almost calm and warm. Sunday some wind came from the NW but there was still lift. Very memorable weekend including the 3 bear cubs that ran out in front of my van on the drive to the event.

[Mike Sebastien]

Nice Pics, thanks for sharing.

We did some Aerotowing here in the Maritimes on Sat as well.

[Mike Sebastien]

What is a Vario?

[cassat]

A Vario senses changes in altitude using an electronic sensor. Usually monitored by a
receiver and headset on the ground.

[Mike Sebastien]

A Vario senses changes in altitude using an electronic sensor. Usually monitored by a
receiver and headset on the ground.

Where can I buy one?

[cassat]

They were mainly produced in the late 70's and 80's by Ace RC. Mine was used from the USA but sold it. They are hard to come by...maybe search ebay using "ace thermal" for
keywords.

[Jan Blom]

Oops, I wasn't getting email notifications.

One vario used is the Picolario. I don't have one but it has nice features. It transmits voltage data from your RX pack with an announcement every 0.1 Volt drop. Altitude is announced as well with every 100' change. Some tugs use them to tell us how high we were towed to. http://www.kennedycomposites.com/picolario.htm

[Tip Stall]

Here are a couple more pictures from the Aerotow...