On Sep 8, 11:21*am, Tom wrote:
On Sep 8, 8:13*am, tstock wrote:

I've heard some pilots say they would prefer to do an intentional rope
break than to try to land with the tow plane.

* ** ** ** **
And what happens if the rope does NOT break? How is this rather
benign "emergency" magnified?

It isn't 'magnified'.

A the correct way to attempt a deliberate rope break is gentle and
safe - far more so than a landing on tow. It's just the regular rope
slack maneuver taught to private pilots without the effort to take the
slack out smoothly plus opening the spoilers. You're aiming for about
10' of slack while in the normal center high-tow position. Once you
have that, open the spoilers and raise the nose as needed to maintain
normal tow position.

If it doesn't work, you still have the landing option. Why not try a
gentle, controlled, rope break first? You might find you have a rope
that breaks easily. If you try the landing option first and it goes
wrong you may never get the chance to break the rope.

How many tow ropes /weak links (much) stronger than legal?

Probably less than the number of understrength ropes/weak links. But
that's a different issue being addressed by regulatory authorities.


I am aware of one documented double release failure in the USA.

That 's one more than I was aware of.