On Tuesday, July 29, 2014 2:40:36 AM UTC-5, wrote:
wouldn't your glider pitch up and whack you after you released the stick?

Unlikely - it will just return to 1 g or so, not rebound. Bigger problem is hitting the tail - although your relative speed difference will still be pretty low. Good idea to protect your head or wear a helmet (depending on who you thermal with!).

A pointed TE probe might hurt, though!

Like I said earlier - this was a common practice in pre-ejection seat fighters - there is even some good gun-camera footage showing German pilots "popping" out of their cockpits while being shot down by P-51s or P-47s; the only way that could happen is either a good shove on the stick, or (if you have time) by running in full forward trim while holding back the stick then letting go. You see the pilot move away from his plane, not slamming back into the tail. And the negative G only lasts for a second or so, not really long enough to change the plane's flight path.

So a childhood reading all the books I could find about fighter planes turned out to be kinda useful...

Kirk