On Saturday, October 14, 2017 at 11:23:33 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Maybe some might think differently about the wisdom of fitting nose books to all gliders (where possible) if they had lost a colleague to a kiting belly hook equipped glider he was towing.

When a tow is going normally it makes little difference where the hook is but when the glider has begun to kite it makes a big difference.

That is an excellent point. It can also make a difference in marginal take-off conditions, crosswind, narrow strips, long grass, stuff you might find on an aero retrieve, etc. And low time/new pilots especially may not have the judgement to not try that, especially if they see other gliders towing from there.

Can you aero tow a glider easily with a CG hook? Sure you can. Are there benefit to having a nose hook? Sure there are. Should you install one... uh depends (Clubs and low-time pilots I would hope err on the side of having nose tow hooks).