FBO plane towing

[smoss]

I am wondering what experiences people have had with their DA40s being towed by FBOs. My 2007 XL has the big, non-standard towbar adapter holes, which work great with the supplied Diamond towbar, but are near useless with the typical smaller adapters. At many of the big airport FBOs, they always want to marshal me in, then tow my plane somewhere for parking. Problem is, they never have the right adapters, so I end up having to fire it up again and move it myself. I will usually call ahead and ask to be marshalled to where I will park, but the message rarely makes it to the line guys. Am I being overly anxious about this and I should just let them move the plane at will, or will that cause potentially serious damage? I can't imagine how they would back up the plane with non-fitting adapters without knowing the magic of pushing the tail down and walking it backwards (which none of them seem to know). Do other people have stories of good or bad experiences with FBOs towing their planes?

[Steve]

Steve - I don't think you are being overly anxious, just trying to be proactive. I used to fly frequently to College Station, TX (KCLL) to visit my sons in college there. Often, the FBO (Astin) would give me a good spot near the terminal entrance, and the airplane would stay there for my visit. On busy weekends (football home games), they would want to move me to more distant parking after I unloaded. The first time, I inquired about them having DA40 adapters for their tug, and being told that they didn't, I taxied over to the more distant parking. I mentioned it to the head line guy there. The next time I was up there and they wanted to tow the airplane, I demurred, and stated that I would restart and taxi since they didn't have the adapters. Well, the guy reached in the back of the tug and produced a set. That is good service! Of course, you pay for it - Avgas prices there were on the high side, but otherwise they had great service.

When I park at a distant location, I put a "DO NOT TOW" streamer on my nose gear just for the eventuality that someone will try to tow with the wrong adapters and screw up my nose gear fairing...

Steve

[chili4way]

I carry a set of adapters in the plane.

https://www.aerospecialties.com/aviatio ... apter-set/

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/ ... -16091.php

Also, see this DAN thread: viewtopic.php?t=4238

[smoss]

The adapters don't really look like they'd work very well for my plane, as they don't have the "shoulders" to clamp on the sides. Regardless, I'd still probably worry they wouldn't use them when I'm not there, or still bung something up considering how squirrely the nosewheel is pushing it backwards. The DO NOT TOW streamer is a nice idea.

[Steve]

Steve:

This is the streamer that I have:

Do Not Tow...

[jwx96]

I always ask if they have the adapters, and supply a set if they don’t. I’ve always gotten them back.

[dmloftus]

I carry a pair of 1/2" drive 28mm sockets in the plane. They work in a pinch if the FBO doesn't have the right size adapters for their universal tow bar. The pins in the jaws of the tow bar fit very well in the 1/2" drive holes of the socket, the open ends toward the nose gear. You should test the fit for the brand of socket you buy. Depending on the socket wall thickness, you might need a 27mm or other (much smaller if you are using high-impact sockets).

[Mjwatlanta]

Here is the set of adapters I carry. These are craftsman brand from amazon. I tried a couple of others and the outside diameter was too big. The ribbons are from Amazon too. Held on with JB weld.

[Pbwears1]

Thanks for the pics, Michael. Where did you get the red flags made?

[Mjwatlanta]

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