Banner Tow Pilots

This summer we were at Myrtle Beach, SC, and I was amazed again by the banner towing pilots. Along the beach, their job looks pretty simple (although probably a hot one). Back at the North Myrtle Beach (Grand Strand KCRE) airport, their job looks a little more interesting. I believe the business we were watching was Barnstormer's Aerial Advertising.

Coming in with a banner or picking up a new one, the job does not look to bad. Similar to landing.



Then they drop the banner.

The next part is what looks interesting. They go full power and a steep climb near stall. The FAA recommends a climb at 1.2x the stall speed until about 250' AGL. There are a number of reasons for this maneuver. They also remark that most of the accidents are involving stalls during banner pickups which does not seem to surprising after watching it.


The plane they used was a simple cub. It was interesting they pulled the cowling off. I guess for extra cooling while going slow.

The FAA has a informational manual for banner tow operations. It is interesting reading especially if you have seen the procedure up close.

I looked on youtube and found a couple of videos which show towing operations pretty well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NFci4qefjs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Btytu1bAI

/Brian