Tow Plane Upsets......

Originally Posted by

I have had the pleasure of taking tows behind Walt. He is best in show and a class act. I only have a few hundred tows in our club Pawnees and about 800tt in power and 50 in sailplanes so I'm no expert. What I do know is this: sailplane pilots are usually type-A and do a great job of rationalizing risk factors to themselves and others. Tost hook be damned, Walt- the variability in sailplane pilots at any club/commercial op will be a risk factor no modified release will solve for. It's a question of whether or not you are comfortable blocking out that idea or not. If I recall correctly, your past career is heavily analytical and clinical- I don't think this question is solvable that way.

Rick,

I made a comment about the two pilots in question and you are right, there is a wide disparity among pilots relative to skill. A gentleman with obvious physical problems and a 15 year old student who never impressed me while she was dual are exactly the type you have to watch but if we only towed highly experienced pilots no one would get their license to gain that experience. That being said my analysis of the problem tells me that a Schweizer hook is inappropriate when we know the Tost will work under similar circumstances AND that the release handle MUST be immediately available to the tow pilot, not down on the floor or where one must bend and reach and feel for it and it must provide enough mechanical advantage to accomplish the job.

Learning that other clubs and facilities have changed to the Tost 30 years ago and that their handles are such that the pilot does not have to do Olympic class gymnastics to grab it concerns me. I realize that we can't pull things out of our asses today and rectify the problem immediately BUT I assure you things will be well underway today to correct my concerns OR I will be starting my second retirement a bit earlier than I had wanted to.

Walt