4 years ago
Hi all,
My friends and I will start doing some regular auto towing soon. Since we'll be doing acro over ground, I'm considering buying the SupAir Acro Base. I've read some topics here, and see that people do tow with the base harness, attaching the tow bridles in different ways.
I saw a user suggested attaching each bridle to the harness carabiners with a climbing carabiner. Then, after pinning off after the tow, removing the bridles and stowing them in the side pockets. Then there is less possibility of a malfunction during base deployment. This is a little time consuming since the bridles have a speed assist connection, but I like the idea. Also, not using a speedbar on the harness for simplicity.
How does that sound? Any other suggestions?
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I ran into an SIV instructor at our training hill. He tows with the Supair Acro Base, and the Avasport Cutaway. With both, he attachés the bridles to the harness straps with climbing carabiners. After towing, he removes them and puts them in the side pockets. Now I have heard from enough pilots who tow this way with no issues, and he convinced me to do the same.
I chose oval screw lock carabiners since they have a wider radius on both ends, and won't come unclipped, or clip anything else during tow. They fit nicely on the harness and bridle, and have a smooth finish so I hopefully won't rub the harness the wrong way. An offset D carabiner would have smaller corners which could pinch and stress the harness or bridle fabric.
Not sure how I want to run the speedbar yet. I'll probably keep the speedbar on the harness, but unconnected unless I hit some wind. Then I can reach into the pockets and get the speed bar connected. Or I could keep it connected all the time with the speedbar cutaway line. But my cutaway cord on the left side doesn't want to stay inside its pocket.
Raul Rodriguez replied to me on Instagram and said he attaches the bridles to the harness below the 3 ring system. So maybe somewhere in this area (see photo)? I like this idea since the bridles are removable after towing, and can't interfere. But others tell me this is not a proper way to tow, and could cross load the main carabiners.