Aircraft banner towing

i never gave this any thought. it's pretty amazing. how long have they been towing banners? at least since the early 60's, in my recollection.

 

I towed banners for a couple of years and used the "lay-down" method primarily because no one had towed banners in my area, (Grand Forks, ND), where I lived at the time, so there was no one to teach me how to use the "wire" pickup method.

Until that time, I had been primarily a flight instructor and aerial applicator, (aka: crop duster). A Dayton's Dept. Store was moving into our area and had a requirement to aerial advertise the grand opening. Through family connections, the new store manager learned I was a pilot and made me a very attractive offer to tow a banner.

Looking through a nation-wide aviation publication (Trade-A-Plane), I discovered a place called "Gasser Banners" which advertised a one-stop outlet for everything one would need for towing, including a "how-to" manual.

The "lay-down" method didn't require extra flight instruction and cost, so that's the method I selected.

The banner is comprised of nylon-type letters that are held together by clips to a wire above and below the letters. An aluminum pipe that has a lead weight at one end called a "lead bar" is attached to the beginning of the string of letters, i.e., the "message." It's purpose is to keep the message upright while flying, otherwise the message could be upside-down or continually twisting. All of this is now attached to a 200' nylon rope. In turn, a safety link, (usually, another rope), is attached so that if for some reason excessive drag is encountered, it will automatically break away before it could slow the towing aircraft down. (Glider towing also uses the same safety link method). Finally, the tow line is attached to a fitting at the tail of the aircraft. The pilot has a release lever so he can manually drop the tow line, either for an emergency or when he returns to the airport.

For takeoff, the banner is placed on the ground ahead of the aircraft at approximately a 20* angle. You don't want it directly in front of the plane as the propeller would have a tendency to pick up the banner and the plane's wheels would mess up the letters at the least.

Depending on the type of airplane, (I used a Piper Super Cub), you're just about airborne as you pass the banner. As you start picking up the letters more drag is encountered and the plane has its nose up to gain altitude. You have to be careful not to slow down so much the airplane's speed falls to the stalling speed. The airplane will climb, but very slowly and one has to plan well ahead to ensure all obstacles will be cleared.

Towing the banner itself is also "interesting" as the message creates a lot of aerodynamic drag. It also makes turns hard as it wants to keep the airplane flying straight ahead. This means any turns have to be anticipated well in advance. One problem I encountered were other airplanes, being curious, flew close by. Knowing there were a lot of student solo pilots in the area gave me a lot to be concerned about as my ability to maneuver was sorely limited.

Another concern was I had neglected to carry any kind of liability insurance on the banner. All I could think of was an inadvertent breaking of the safety link with the banner falling away over a populated area. Remember that "lead pipe" I mentioned earlier? That could have cause some extensive damage to injury to someone on the ground. The insurance would have been prohibitive and besides, I was a poor college student at the time with no assets.

Returning to the airport, you have to fly slowly over the ground and manually release the banner. It is possible to land with the banner attached, but then it's dragged over the ground at a good clip, causing damage to the letters.

Other observations:

Laying out the banner prior to takeoff has to be accomplished by at least two ground crew members. If the winds started picking up, the banner could rise and start "waving" on the ground. On at least two occasions, that happened and the banner became entangled with the runway lights. As I've already flown past the banner at this point, I can't tell what's happening on the ground except the airplane abruptly slowed down and then shot away as the safety link broke.

After all was said and done, the "big money" I had expected to make never materialized because I neglected to consider all the costs of doing business: ground personnel salaries, cost of the banner system, renting of the aircraft, other overhead costs, etc. At least I received a good education, built up some flight hours, and especially lived to tell about it!

 

now i really understand why i never wanted to fly. to me, that sounds exactly like fireworks being launched from an airplane.