Of the 5 pure sailplanes I've owned, only one had a nose hook and, in
thousands of hours of gliding, I can not recall ever wishing I had a
nose hook on any of the others.Â* Nor did I ever think of how great a
nose hook is except when ground launching.Â* Statements like "no matter
how quick you are" are not useful and only serve to demonize something
that has been used successfully since the earliest times in gliding.

No matter how quick you are someone can still pull out in front of you
on the road such that you can not avoid an accident.Â* Does that make you
not drive?Â* Of course not.Â* You rely on your abilities and observation
of the world around to anticipate and avoid, to the extent possible,
such happenings and to react to those that do.Â* The same is true in
gliding.Â* I do not object to nose hooks only to the notion that they are
"safer" than the alternative.Â* And I've seen plenty of hose hook
equipped gliders take a trip into the rough.

On 10/11/2017 8:48 PM, Andy Blackburn wrote:
On Friday, October 6, 2017 at 9:39:49 AM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
It seems everyone concerned with CG hooks has some horror story about
gliders losing control.Â* I'll go out on a limb and lay that one squarely
in the lap of the pilot.Â* Sure, there aren't the self-righting forces
inherent in having the point of force far ahead of the CG, but a
competent pilot should be capable of correcting displacements from the
desired track or pulling the release.Â* If one's decision on purchasing a
glider is based upon whether or not the glider has a nose hook, I would
question the training or ability of the pilot.


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Dan, 5J
It can happen pretty fast - no matter how quick you are on the release. Particularly with a ballasted wing, a tip skid instead of a wheel and if you are more than 100' down the runway when it happens and have a head of steam.

I have no idea how much a nose hook might help. You can end up off the runway without generating much of a difference in path angle. My advice is to brief any wing runner you haven't used before - they have a lot of influence over the ultimate outcome.

Andy Blackburn
9B

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Dan, 5J