Fatal Towplane Accident 5-9-20

How about banning all sideways/aft opening canopies from gliders? An unlocked canopy is a non-event in my LS6 with it's forward hinged canopy. Grobs? Deathtraps!

Or, just ban all canopies, period. Open cockpits are much more relaxing, and there is one less thing to mess up prior to takeoff.

OR, we could switch to using helicopters to aerotow...just put a CG hook on the TOP of the glider, lift vertically to 3000', and cut'em loose. Yee Haw! With a Chinook you could even daisy-chain several gliders and take up the whole club at once - just make sure you release from the bottom up...

Seriously:

1. Replace ALL Schweizer tow hooks with TOST releases (or equivalent) with the release lever close to the throttle. This is a no-brainer.

2. DO NOT TOLERATE ANY out of position/out of view flying by ANY glider pilot. At a minimum, talk to them after a flight with an "incident"; worse case, hand them the rope as soon as they get out of position (within gliding range of the field, of course, if possible).

Kirk
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