Tow Bars

[Chorse6]

Scott,

Nice Article.

FSM had an article that I was able to scrounge. Paul Boyer (I believe) did it similar to you, but used .08 square rods on the end/connecting pieces, which worked out a little better. I used that on the one I made and it came out nice. Also, you can use chain that can be found at railroad hobby shops for the middle.

I like the use of pins, which I may add to my current and future ones.

Good job,

[F-16]

Thanks George.

I basically built the tow bars from what stock I had at the time. I could not find any .08 square rod. I also should look into getting some scale chain for them as well. Do you recommend a size for 1/48? I don't think the thread looks right. But that's what I had at the time.

If/when I make another bar, I think I will try and find that article you mentioned by PB(?) The only thing I could not replicate was the small wheels on the ends. Maybe next time.

This was basically a BIG learning curve for me. I wanted to see if I could scratch build a tow bar for my navy carrier birds. They turned out better than I hoped.

Scott

CNJC-IPMS

[Chorse6]

Scott (or anyone else),

I scanned the article. Send me an email and I'll send it to you.

For wheels, they used circular rod cut in half.

I'll have to find the chain to tell you which one I used.

HTH,

George

[Unimodeler]

This might be of interest...

Aircraft Tow Bars Two general classes of tow bars are used in naval aviation—those adaptable to only one type of aircraft and those adaptable to more than one type. The universal aircraft tow bar, Model ALBAR (Adjustable Length Towbar) (fig. 10-13) is the type of tow bar most commonly used by the Navy today. It is available in four different models and lengths. It is used to tow and position aircraft weighing up to 90,000 pounds. The ALBAR is designed for towing aircraft that have nose or tailwheel axle holes, or fuselage or landing gear towing rings and it can be configured to accomodate different aircraft

b. Adjustable length towbar (ALBAR) (p. 2-26)- Presently there are four lengths. The Model 15 ALBAR is and will remain the standard towbar for movement of most land-based and CV-based aircraft weighting up to 90,000 pounds.

Model 8 ALBAR (9 feet long)

Model 15 ALBAR (15 feet long)

Model 20 ALBAR (20 feet long)

Model 24 ALBAR (25 feet long)

Edited May 14, 2008 by Unimodeler