Winch Launch Fatality

1. Nose way down NOW!
2. Get a safe airspeed ASAP!
3. Decide on the landing option (Straight or circle.)
4. Execute landing option - concentrate on airspeed and coordination.
5. Pull the release - maybe.

Move 5 up to 2 and I'll agree with your sequence. Three reasons:
(a) you're going to wait some seconds for the airspeed to build so
* * pulling it at this point doesn't delay any other actions.

(b) Your hand is on or very near the release, so just do it.

(c) As I said above, you may be faced with a power fade rather than
* * a cable break and the cable may still be on. Now, we know that
* * back-release works for a straight backward pull, but what if
* * its a high power fade and you get airspeed and turn. Would you
* * still expect the cable to back release at an angle to the flight
* * path?

--
martin@ * | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org * * * |

OK, maybe, as long as it isn't priority 1 - but now you are
introducing a power fade which is a different animal. Power fades are
demonstrated and practiced along with simulated rope breaks just so
pilots know the difference. No one has ever said, "Wow, that's
confusing - how do you tell the difference?"

(C.) However, this one deserves serious consideration. A break is an
obvious "thump" and an upward surge. (Spectra/Dyneema rope generates
a much more obvious thump than steel.)

Assuming the pilot is monitoring airspeed, a power fade means the nose
will coming down and be down to a normal glide attitude and airspeed
as power is totally lost - just as at the top of a normal launch. It
will be managed as if it were a normal launch with a normal release
pull - just at a lower height. Just as with a normal launch, the
winch driver will be alert to the rope not detaching from the glider
and fire the guillotine

For a winch power loss to be confused with a rope break, the power
failure would need to be a rare kind - some sort of explosive loss of
mechanical integrity or seizing up of the winch. But, if the rope is
still attached at the winch, there won't be the upward surge.