Vaughn wrote:
"Gary Boggs" wrote in message
...
I think undoing the occasional knot in the rope is far safer than the
possibility of getting tangled in the end of the rope. Is this practice used
anywhere else in the world? Please give me some feedback.

It would have to be a pretty wild "soft" release to result in a glider
tangled in the tow rope. That said, I know of one nasty accident that resulted
from the apparent failure of a glider pilot to confirm release. Our site always
stressed that the glider must not move out of position until the glider pilot
has visually confirmed rope release. But it is far harder to visually confirm
release after a soft release because the ring tends to dangle out of sight below
the glider's nose and there is no rope "snap" to observe.

If that's the case, you're putting *a lot* of slack in the rope. You
can always fly a bit off center just before release so the rope is more
visible. The same technique works in slack line recovery too. ;-)

Jeremy