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Ideas for an older car for flat towing?
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If you can afford a Prevost with all that horsepower, why in the world be concerned about towing a heavy toad? I tow a full sized suburban not some toy lawnmower looking plastic car the size of a casket.
Whoops, may of offended someone, so tear down a chevy suburban poster !!
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JC – I saw this a little late tonight, but I’ll give you a call tomorrow. I’m retired FAA, too. ATC side though.
Steve – are you talking about the Wrangler as a toy, or did I miss something else? It’s hard to keep track with all of this airplane talk. Don’t forget I was asking about dragging around that ’74 Cadillac!
Jon – I wanted to make sure I remembered the pilot’s description correctly, so I went back and found it. Here’s his explanation:
A very short version of the story goes like this: the left engine lost thrust on final when the plane was very slow and very dirty (i.e. 30 degree flaps, gear down). I applied full mixture, full props, full throttle, but the introduction of power near VMC meant I was losing control of the airplane pretty much immediately and before I could feather and clean up. I pulled both throttles back, got control of the plane, and looked for a place to land. Given the proximity of the ground, I didn’t think I could get the plane clean enough quickly enough to climb. The highway was what happened to be near enough to reach via 6300# glider.
Maybe it’s obvious, but I can confirm that a windmilling prop has A LOT of drag and will zap your speed and altitude very quickly. VMC is no joke. A demo of VMC is not the same as the real thing. Losing authority over the controls will test your training and your wit.
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Chad, Make it about noon or just a little after Eastern. I’m gonna be on an airplane earlier. Thanks.
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Chad, no I wasn`t referencing jeeps at all.
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Chad, I get the threat ov a Vmc situation, but what I have concerns about is not carrying air speed when there is ample runway.
I am not questioning his skills as far as a response to an engine out, but the decision to get slow, low and dirty and put himself in a no win situation.
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I hear you, Jon. I never flew my Twin Bo into less than 4000′, so I stayed above red line longer than you could into a short runway. I couldn’t stomach the cost of rebuilding one of those gearboxes, so abrupt power reductions were highly discouraged. It made for some interesting trade-offs. It sounds like JC has flown one into some shorter fields.
I had a seller tell me last night to not expect much from the air conditioning in a Wrangler with a soft top. It gets overwhelmed by radiant heat. Any Wrangler owners here that can debunk that for me? I need AC in the summer, top up or down. 🙂
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Speed has always been a pilot’s friend almost as much as altitude, and more of a friend in some situations. I think all of us were aware of what it was like being behind the power curve and unless we needed to get real slow such as to get down and stopped in a short distance there was no sense in putting ourselves at risk.
Liberty owners who have the black sun screens in the front will all agree the black absorbs heat from the sun and radiates it into the front of the coach. A Jeep soft top that is a dark color will do the same easily overcoming the A/C system.
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Now this is a TOAD !!
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Steve, that thing is a beast! I can see you’re nothing but trouble. Well, you and David. That Jeep with a Hemi sounds like fun, but it’s heading in the opposite direction of my current thinking. Low and slow these days, unless it has a forty-year-old big block.
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Right on Chad ! 454 big block.
I don`t follow the herd when comes to modern cars (JUNK).
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I’ll take my 7 liter big block (2017) any day.
My worst mileage is 22 MPG, but it will blow the doors of of almost anything on the road.
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Luv them big blocks, but you still got them worthless computers managing that thing.
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“MAINTAIN THY AIRSPEED OR THE EARTH WILL ARISE AND SMITE THEE”
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Chad,
We’ve had both soft top and hard top and I was always amazed how well the A/C worked with nothing but fabric over you head. Of course we’re in GA and not Phoenix at 115 degrees. We now have a hard top with with roof insulation panels and it’s really good, even being an 08.
1984 96" with 8V92TA
(remodeled Liberty Coach)
Greenwood, MO -
Thanks, Tom. I won’t let it spook me then. A Wrangler sure seems like a good fit.
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