CONTROLS

lmk if you can't figure out how to fly, but it is easy and simple once you learn so I'm glad to give some advice.

Ag1 Off: No-Tow Mode

Pitch and roll control mothership
Trim is for mothership pitch trim
Magnets on
Just fly as if normal aircraft

Ag1 On: Tow Mode

Airbrake on (to keep cable taut)
Roll controls tow plane
Trim controls mothership bank angle (autopilot)
Mothership pitch autopilot tries to hold ~1500 feet, dont worry if a little low
VTOL controls cable payout - I recommend full length

Lessons Learned / Takeaways

At first I made a boat, with a special controllable kite before going to a full-on aerial tow, so start there if looking to experiment for yourself. I realized the website doesn't have a lot of working glider tow setups! Many have tried but there are no good, viable results that I've found yet. So I am going to list out the factors to work on with your aircraft here.

Tow hook position
Can't tell you exactly where to put it, I dont even know. Definitely at x=0, right on the centerline of the glider. It seems if it’s below the center of mass, the glider is stable flying above the tow plane, and vice versa. Further ahead on the tow plane will give you limited pitch movement, while I prefer closer to the center of mass for maneuverability. Plus, if you pitch, you rotate around the tow hook so it doesn’t move in space if that makes sense. Definitely don’t go behind the com.

Airbrake
I recommend hidden airbrake on real builds, but mine is visible here. This keeps the glider back and the cable taut. If the cable has slack, there is a whiplash effect when it goes taut again and you are likely to lose control. I would put it near the back of the glider for improved stability. The airbrake should always be out when towing.

Pitch Control
The glider has a stable position relative to the tow plane. Here, it’s a significant amount above. Generally, using pitch is typically just gonna throw sh%t out of wack as it takes the glider out of the stable position and I would recommend disabling glider pitch control while towing. At the very least, decrease the sensitivity during this phase of flight. The same probably goes for yaw, but who even uses yaw in sp anyway?

Autopilot
Here I implemented an altitude hold, and a bank angle hold. For glider tow planes, I recommend implementing a rate-of-climb autopilot on the pitch axis. You could also do a very simple attitude hold, just doing a specific pitch angle to climb at. For roll, I recommend using the bank angle situation I have here. Use trim lever or something else to set a preferred bank angle so you can focus on flying the glider.

You really can’t get around using a basic autopilot here. There’s two pilots in real life and one needs to be simulated in the game.