Todd is right in every respect, at least one of the
aerotow upset fatals involved a largly winch launch
experienced pilot and the cicumstances he surmised.

Chris Rollings

At 15:06 07 January 2004, Todd Pattist wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote:

The US might have less trouble with CG hooks than a
country where aero
tow isn't as common.

There are a couple of things that might make the U.S.
experience a little different in view of our training
and
operating procedures and the different experience of
our
pilot base. Many/most U.S. pilots are unfamiliar with
winch
launching and are extremely uncomfortable with any
kind of
nose high attitude on launch. I have occasionally
wondered
if some 'kiting on tow' accidents might be related
to the
pilots control response in a situation that is dangerous
for
an aerotow, but not for a winch launch. Another potential
difference is the prevalence of U.S. training in the
venerable 2-33, which typically produces a very high
nose up
attitude as the roll commences and requires a strong
forward
stick to compensate.

Of course, despite those comments, we also experience
too
many towing accidents. The CG hook can be implicated
in more
than the kiting accidents, and I know several pilots
who
have purchased or retrofitted the nose hook after a
loss of
directional control during the initial roll on a CG
hook
aerotow launch.
Todd Pattist - 'WH' Ventus C
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