Does anyone use a tug tow hook that releases automatically whenglider kites?

Chris Rollings wrote:

At 10:06 16 February 2014, Jonathon May wrote:
At 08:50 16 February 2014, Chris Rollings wrote:
At 01:21 16 February 2014, Don Johnstone wrote:
At 22:39 11 February 2014, kirk.stant wrote:


Or, just teach the glider pilot to NEVER lose sight of the towplane,
and
to=
immediately release if he does. =20

Is it a matter of the FAA and insurance underwriters making any
change
to=
the status quo cost-prohibitive? What sort of gauntlet does one nee
to
r=
un?

One of the never to be breached rules of aerotowing for a glider pilot
i
the UK is "if at any time you loose sight of the tug for ANY reason yo
ar
to pull the release"
If you read Chris's article carefully you may deduce that in the wors
cas
scenario, the rapid vertical departure of the glider, by the time th
glider pilot realises he has lost sight of the tug, and attempts to pul
the release it is already far to late to make any significant differenc
t
what is going to happen.



"Our first conclusion was that, in the event of this sequence occurring
accidentally as a result of an inadvertent pitch up by the glider
pilot,
there was effectively no chance that either the glider pilot or
tow-pilot
would recognise the problem and pull the release in the available
time."

It was this very scenario that killed a very good friend of mine who
was

very experienced tug pilot. There are some events that, paradoxically
require corrective action to commence before onset if they are to b
effective in time to change the outcome.

As for cheap solutions, I am firmly of the view that most wooden glider
with only CoG hooks should not be aerotowed, those with compromise
hook
should be aerotowed with extreme care.



I would add that, although I haven't done the same tests with any glas
gliders, I'm pretty sure that many of the light-weight Standard/15m type
would behave in the same way on a C of G hook. Std Cirrus would be a
prim
candidate, would somebody with access to one care to try it at saf
altitude and report the result?

What I find rather sad about the gliding movement is the lack o
willingness to go and get the facts. We have been aware of this proble
for over 35 years, I described flights tests that I carried out, to try
t
improve understanding and seek a solution. Has anyone else done the
same?


In my opinion more relevant has any one tried these departures from track

with the next generation tugs eurofox to name but one.
We are all used to boxing the wake of a Pawnee and I know the teams
introducing them into clubs are taking a steady measured introduction .
But I don't want to be known as the the guy that killed the tuggie
because
I
didn't know what was acceptable .
My apologies to all at YGC for washing in public but this thread stirred
my

concerns and I know that when I get to fly behind the fox I will get a
briefing
But as Chris said until you have tested and published the results no one
knows.
Jon




Jon, I share your concern about the new generation of light-weight
tow-planes, I strongly suspect they will be more vulnerable to upset
accidents. I think that carrying out test like the ones I described should
be a requirement before the authorities approve the type for towing. It
may be possible I'll get the chance to try it out behind a Eurofox later
this year, I'll publish the results here if I do.

Chris, as it happens I have also been in the glider during one of
these incidents, and once again I emphasise that it is all over in
fractions of a second, with absolutley no chance to take any sort of
corrective action.

It was not a light sailplane either - an ASH25 in fact - flown by its
owner with me taking no part in the rear cockpit. (I will try to be
more observant in future). The airbrakes had opened as we left the
ground, and although the tug pilot was shouting 'bremse' into his
radio it took quite some time for the translation to sink in, at which
point P1 slammed the brakes shut and quite possibly and inadvertantly
pulled back on the stick. Bang, all over, and one very annoyed and
very lucky tug pilot back on the ground. Maybe the time to translate
the message saved his life.