Bob

I think Marcel answered your questions

I can think of and know of instances where the winch
driver should cut the cable instantly, moving or stationary.

Should -- must -- need -- want -- ought to cut the
cable are all subjective and cannot be answered fully
in the space available. Ultimately I suppose on which
side of the incident you are sitting, on the winch
or in the air and the final outcome.

I witnessed an incident where the pilot on a winch
launch failed to take the correct action when travelling
too fast, he released and accelerated flying under
the cable which then wrapped itself round the glider.
Removed the tail plane and embedded itself in the
fin

The glider did a neat 180 and then dived at about 45
degrees earthwards. The winch driver did not cut the
cable. Just before the glider hit the ground, the winch
cable pulled tight and stopped the glider in mid air.
It 'landed' with greatly reduce forward speed and
energy. It hit the ground almost flat.

The glider was wrecked but the pilot lived.

Talking to the winch driver afterward, he failed to
cut the cable because events happened so fast, he froze.
It was probably all over in less than 10 seconds.

Whatever the incident, the winch driver MUST have the
facility to cut the rope. Only hindsight will tell
whether he should have or should not have cut the cable.


The answer to the problem is training the brain on
each end of the wire to treat the wire and the winch
with utmost respect.

Dave Martin