Recognizing and reacting to tow plane engine failure

On Friday, October 24, 2014 10:40:08 AM UTC-4, John Carlyle wrote:
I've experienced simulated power failures and simulated rope breaks just after I'm flying but the tow plane isn't.

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The simulated tow plane power failure was not a piece of cake. It took a few seconds to figure out that something was wrong, find the release and transition to landing mode.

The case of the towplane being on the ground and aborting takeoff when the glider is flying in ground effect is problematic.

If the runway has poor straight ahead landing options (I mean poor options for landing after a 100 AGL engine failure), then aborting takeoff before the towplane leaves the ground, even for an unconfirmed engine/pilot problem, is understandable. But the glider having much less drag is fated to fly past the tow plane (if it avoids collision).

Is it possible for the glider to turn fast enough to avoid colliding with the towplane? What happens when a glider touches a wingtip to the ground at 40 knots?

At what velocity does the glider have enough energy to fly over top of the towplane? Or is that impossible?

Any experiences/thoughts?