Sign towing planes. What happens with an engine failure?

[danny_galaga]

Sitting in a park with mum. Watched a green and white (decathlon?) towing a banner. Looks like a nice job to do 😊

 

But what happens with an engine failure? Would you immediately drop the banner? Is it made in a way that won't cause serious injury on the ground? What about if it hits traffic? Or legally, if over populated areas, do you just have to accept that extra drag?

[turboplanner]

Same as towing a glider Pull the Release then Forced Landing sequence.

[facthunter]

It 'Cooks' engines with the drag of the Banner.  I couldn't think of anything more boring. . Nev

[danny_galaga]

2 hours ago, turboplanner said:

Same as towing a glider Pull the Release then Forced Landing sequence.

Over populated areas? 

[turboplanner]

1 hour ago, danny_galaga said:

Over populated areas? 

Yes, what is the process of declaring a Mayday?

[danny_galaga]

1 hour ago, turboplanner said:

Yes, what is the process of declaring a Mayday?

I haven't done any training in banner towing aircraft, that's why I'm asking what you would do with the banner when flying over Coorparoo and you had an engine failure.

Edited September 13 by danny_galaga

[turboplanner]

You have to look up the GA legislation relating to mandatory declaration of a Mayday 

You have to look up your RA obligations re flying over Coorparoo, is zoning and whether you need an upgrade to your currrent qualifications, and if flying a GA aircraft, your endorsements.

Along the path, in GA, you might find the requirements for towing a banner, which answer your question.

Or you might opt not to fly over a built up area but abeam of it.

The proximity of the City probably  kills that thought anyway.

[FlyBoy1960]

Can't release the banner because of our function ?

 

Draw an imaginary line between your eyes and your knees and that's where you will land.

[Jabiru7252]

As a kid I remember a plane flying offshore at the beach towing a banner but do not remember what the banner was about. There used to be 'sky writing' on occasions as well, it's a pity they didn't draw dick-n-balls back then, that would have been a laugh...

[facthunter]

They used to tow Drogues for Gunnery practice. Illawarra FS had a P 51. doing that.  A lot of the sky writing was by Fred Hoinville  All of these ops (including shark spotting) were done by commercial Pilots. Nev

[danny_galaga]

On 14/09/2026 at 4:27 AM, turboplanner said:

You have to look up the GA legislation relating to mandatory declaration of a Mayday 

You have to look up your RA obligations re flying over Coorparoo, is zoning and whether you need an upgrade to your currrent qualifications, and if flying a GA aircraft, your endorsements.

Along the path, in GA, you might find the requirements for towing a banner, which answer your question.

Or you might opt not to fly over a built up area but abeam of it.

The proximity of the City probably  kills that thought anyway.

That's a long way of saying you don't know 😄

[danny_galaga]

23 hours ago, FlyBoy1960 said:

Draw an imaginary line between your eyes and your knees and that's where you will land.

With or without a banner in tow? 🤔

[facthunter]

 A couple of funny answers  back there? eh Danny.   Nev

[danny_galaga]

21 hours ago, facthunter said:

They used to tow Drogues for Gunnery practice. Illawarra FS had a P 51. doing that.  A lot of the sky writing was by Fred Hoinville  All of these ops (including shark spotting) were done by commercial Pilots. Nev

Man, when I was in highschool, my friend got to do work experience in the RAAF. He ended up going in the (leer?) jet that towed those drogues. Me? I went to a sign writer and mostly stood on roofs in the hot sun holding signs while the sign writer screwed them in. 

[turboplanner]

6 hours ago, danny_galaga said:

That's a long way of saying you don't know 😄

No, I was trying to give you a lead on where to look. Each of those answers has qualifying information attached. Just the Mayday alone triggers sub-sections. If you want to play around and be an idiot I won't bother the try to help you next time.

 

[danny_galaga]

2 hours ago, turboplanner said:

No, I was trying to give you a lead on where to look. Each of those answers has qualifying information attached. Just the Mayday alone triggers sub-sections. If you want to play around and be an idiot I won't bother the try to help you next time.

 

Have you taken a blow to the head? I'm not planning on towing a fucking banner myself, with my fucking ultralight, you numpty. I just thought someone here might know. You don't, so don't cause even more injury to your brain thinking about it...

[Jabiru7252]

Punch Up! Punch Up! 

[turboplanner]

Doesn't anyone see anthying wrong with trolling; you think it's funny?

[Marty_d]

[facthunter]

It's most likely listed as AWK in the flight Plan (Air Work) and cleared to operate in a defined area and level(s) specifically. . Generally dropping anything from a Plane is Prohibited, but there would be exceptions. Banners are draggy but not dense. The load, (drag) is generally enough to require all the reserve power the Motor can make continuously. (Max visual impact for money) Often with a finer pitch prop fitted.  I've rented Banner towing Planes and they are usually hacks you wouldn't fly (in normal circumstances). Being a (very) cheap hire rate was my reason. That's when I needed HOURS in my log book. Nev

[turboplanner]

6 hours ago, facthunter said:

It's most likely listed as AWK in the flight Plan (Air Work) and cleared to operate in a defined area and level(s) specifically. . Generally dropping anything from a Plane is Prohibited, but there would be exceptions. Banners are draggy but not dense. The load, (drag) is generally enough to require all the reserve power the Motor can make continuously. (Max visual impact for money) Often with a finer pitch prop fitted.  I've rented Banner towing Planes and they are usually hacks you wouldn't fly (in normal circumstances). Being a (very) cheap hire rate was my reason. That's when I needed HOURS in my log book. Nev

If the location, Coorparoo, is inner Brisbane?

[BrendAn]

On 15/09/2026 at 8:22 PM, turboplanner said:

No, I was trying to give you a lead on where to look. Each of those answers has qualifying information attached. Just the Mayday alone triggers sub-sections. If you want to play around and be an idiot I won't bother the try to help you next time.

 

why can't you just reply with an answer instead of a pile of cryptic messages. you do it every time.

Edited September 17 by BrendAn

[turboplanner]

I used to reply with fully detailed answers. Sometimes it meant a few hours work, which would be the case here, because frequently in GA there are multiple answers or conditional answers, and after you found the GA answer, you had to search a bit more to see if there were any reasons an RA Certificate couldn't do it. Fequently the correct answer didn't suit them because they thought the only "Rules" they had to comply with were those of RAA, so they'd ignore the hours of research I'd just done and bellyache about "CASA" when the subject matter was Airservices, or campaign for "no stupid rules." Class G was a classic case. Now I just refer to CASA or Airservices and let them do their own research.

Edited September 17 by turboplanner

[facthunter]

Most banner towing I've witnessed is at a beach and is over the water off shore.. When I was shark spotting a small roll of toilet Paper was dropped over the threatened surfers and of course the radio station paying for the Plane broadcast it to anyone on their frequency via a large radio strapped in the Back seat. I carried the radio station personality in a front  seat.  Nev.