At 02:48 26 June 2004, Stephen Haley wrote:

Why?
Provided a well banked turn is used and appropriate
speed (and 60knts is on the low side) given the prevailing

wind conditions It is perfectly valid manouver even
below
200ft.

Rope- and cable breaks occur across a wide variety
of conditions at a wide variety of altitudes. Sometimes
they come with obvious audible and visual cues. Sometimes
you don't know it's happened until you see that you're
not keeping up with the towplane.

The 200-foot altitude is generally chosen as a turnaround
gate because it leaves usually-adequate margin to recognize
the situation and effect a 180-degree turn even under
less-than-perfect conditions. Sometimes it's not enough.
Sometimes, as you point out, it has generous margin.

Going off on a tangent, the thing I observe about too
many of the recent accidents is that maneuvers intended
to protect the aircraft from minor damage are resulting
instead in loss of control with attendant major damage,
injury, dismemberment, and death. It harkens back to
the value trap that Pirsig invokes in _Zen and the
art...,_ where the monkey forgets to value its life
greater than the handful of grain that restrains its
fist in the trap.

More later -

Thanks, and best regards to all

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com