FSX / P3D

FSX Tutorial - Customize Tow-Plane

Tow-plane behavior tuning for more believable glider aerotows in Microsoft Flight Simulator X, covering key aircraft configuration edits to reduce excessive speed and climb while improving handling. The guide also points to complementary methods for banked turns and tow-plane swapping, helping keep launches realistic around airfields, terrain, and thermal routes.

795 downloads 1.49 MB Scanned clean

Flight Simulator X Prepar3D

Images & Screenshots

2 total

A glider cockpit view shows a tow plane ahead connected by a rope, flying above green hills under a partly cloudy sky.

A cockpit view shows a glider being towed by a single-engine aircraft over green hills under partly cloudy skies, with speed and climb data displayed.

A tutorial to make the things in FSX more realistic. You can adjust the tow plane concerning its flying behavior. See also tutorials "Flying Banked Turns With Tow Plane In FSX" (TUT_TWPL.ZIP) and "Change Tow Plane In FSX" (TUTCHTWP.ZIP). By Thomas Murr.

Screenshot taken from the cockpit of a glider in flight.

Since the FSX-distribution it's possible to call for a towplane that will get the glider pilot in the air (hold CTRL and SHIFT and press Y). Although this feature is great the behavior of the tow plane is not realistic (e.g. too fast with an unrealistic climb rate).

With this tutorial I will put things right.

The next not realistic thing is that the towplane is always flying straight ahead and at first view at FSX there is neither possible to stick around the airfield nor to navigate the towplane directly into the thermals or to avoid crashing in an obstacle (e.g. in the mountains). To fix this see my other tutorial 'Flying banked turns with Tow-Plane in FSX' (tut_twpl.zip).

Although the change of the tow plane is described in this tutorial I recommend to read my other tutorial "tutchtwp.zip" which is more detailed concerning this theme.

Ready to download Tutorial - Customize Tow-Plane?

Free for all simmers · 1.49 MB · Scanned clean

File information

Filename

tut_cutp.zip

File size

1.49 MB

Virus scan

Clean (scanned with ClamAV)

Access

Freeware

Content rating

Everyone

Download speed: Free tier is capped at 0.5 Mbps. PRO members download at full line speed.

This is a freeware file — use is subject to our freeware copyright terms.

Requires dependencies

This add-on may require the following files to function properly. If this is a repaint, the dependency below is likely the base aircraft package.

How to install this mod

FSX / P3D add-on

Extract the downloaded archive

Use 7-Zip (free) or WinRAR to extract the ZIP to a temporary folder. Don't install while still zipped — the simulator can't read inside ZIP files.
Place files per the readme

Most FSX add-ons go into one of: SimObjects\Airplanes\, Addon Scenery\, Effects\, or Gauges\.
Always read the included readme

Every mod ships with a readme.txt or README file. It tells you exactly where files go, what dependencies are needed, and any quirks specific to this add-on.

What’s inside this archive

The archive tut_cutp.zip has 9 files and directories contained within it.

File Contents

This list displays the first 500 files in the package. If the package has more, you will need to download it to view them.

Filename/Directory	File Date	File Size
cutomize_towplane_deutsch.pdf	03.09.07	587.67 kB
readme_de.txt	03.07.07	1.01 kB
readme.txt	03.09.07	1.08 kB
pic1.jpg	03.09.07	170.78 kB
pic2.JPG	03.09.07	203.40 kB
FILE_ID.DIZ	03.09.07	304 B
cutomize_towplane_english.pdf	03.09.07	586.61 kB
flyawaysimulation.txt	10.29.13	959 B
Go to Fly Away Simulation.url	01.22.16	52 B