At 11:12 19 July 2014, Barnard Toulson wrote:
Well said Chris.

I am an ex Chief Flying Instructor and Motor Glider Instructor, at
one of the larger clubs in the UK and the general rule on low
cable breaks is that if it is safe to land ahead then do so and
worry about the retrieve later. A "controlled crash" is usually
more survivable than an uncontrolled spin in. I can think of a
number of failed attempts to get back to the launch point which
resulted in fatalities when a perfectly safe land ahead option was
available.

Theoretically, a cable break at 200 feet at, say, 70 knots
SHOULD enable a 180 degree turn to be executed however, this
does not allow for thinking time, option analysis and logical
decision making. Add to that the instinctive tendency to "keep
the nose up" rather than monitor the airspeed, the unusual
attitude of a low turn creating further high stress and all the
ingredients are in place for pilot overload and a dangerous
situation.

A golden rule is that if a "crash" is inevitable, make sure te
wings are level and the speed as low as possible at impact
(landing??).

Barney

Yep, 100% agree. I think the confusion arises in the difference between
what we teach new and low hours students and what is possible with more
experience pilots.
There are many examples of what we teach as a basic procedure being amended
by individual pilots as they gain experience. As an example I always teach
the circuit pattern as outlined in the Instructor manual. When flying solo,
especially with flaps I tend to make the turn from downwind to finals a
constant radius turn, much more difficult to judge for a new student. I
would consider a turn back from 200ft if there were no other option and
expect it to be successful. What I would never do is teach that to a low
hours student. It is a bit of a moot point anyway at most UK sites I have
flown from with two exceptions. On my current site a launch failure at
700ft would still leave me enough room to land ahead in anything over a
light breeze.