When I towed at the Air Force Academy a long time ago in a galaxy far away.....we had a T-handle mounted on the panel right in front of the throttle. As soon as I had full throttle in, I could hold the throttle with the butt of my hand and have my fingers resting on the handle ready for any surprises. I did run into several instances when I couldn't release due to the glider (2-33) swinging high and outside in the turn in a slack rope recovery gone bad. The rope would usually snap tight, the towplane (180 hp Super Cub) would lurch violently sideways and nose down. Due to the side load I could not release from my end, the glider couldn't release, and usually a rope break would solve the problem.

I witnessed a kiting incident of a Ventus with a cg hook right after liftoff at the old Black Forest Glider Port. The Ventus went up, did a wingover from maybe 50 feet a nosed into the ground. The towplane almost had a prop strike but the rope broke, or maybe got released in time. Fortunately the Ventus pilot was not severely injured, but lots of damage on the nose and cockpit area.

As far as the release handle on the Pawnee and Call Air, it seems to me that the handle for the dump gate would give lots of leverage. Same with the AgWagon, if you used the lever for the dump gate instead of spray valve handle.

I'm all for Tost releases on the towplane end. As simple as the Schwiezer hitch is, it is an accident waiting to happen....again.

Just my 2 cents worth.