It is possible and highly desirable to fit a guillotine to a pulley system. My club had considerable experience with reverse pulley for many years when we had a hard runway, and developed it to a great degree.

Method: We had 2 pulley wheels in a frame which pivoted about a horizontal axis, and also mounted so that it could swing sideways. This enabled the cable to run true from glider to one pulley, and from the other pulley to the tow vehicle. Both pulleys were framed in lead-in guards. The horizontal pivot was hollow. A spring loaded chisel-edged cutter ran through it. This could be released from the cab of the truck on which the pulley system was mounted. It would hit the cable, against an anvil mounted between the two pulleys. It worked.

Reason: Cable hang-ups at the glider end are not unknown. One fatal accident in the UK in the 1970’s arose from this (either release hook did not work, or cable wrapped round wheel, on a winch launch). With the cable taut, the glider described an arc from nearly above the winch to the ground. A non-fatal accident from a similar cause was addressed by the pilot circling over the winch while descending, straightening up with slack in the cable near the ground and landing downwind.

Mitigation: Plastic hose round the strop from weak link/drogue to glider prevents hang-up round the wheel/axle, but faulty cable release in the glider still needs the safety of a guillotine.

Chris N