Tow Plane Upsets......

Originally Posted by George Haeh

The older, taller gliders were more problematic with CG hooks because the
hook was well below the actual CG. Some have a tendency to pitch up
excessively even on a winch.

I've taken aerotows on a CG hook in Pilatus, LS-4, ASW-20 and 27. None
harder than a nose hook in a Blanik.

The new designs are easier as long as the tow pilot gives you the
manufacturer recommended aerotow speed. One towpilot shorted me 10 kts
once too many times. I don't take tows from him any more as I got high
behind him twice and yanked.

The 27 with CG hook is lovely on aerotow, even through rotor. YMMV with
water and different CGs.

A nose hook is more work as you have to compensate for yaw and pitch
couples.

My question is which gliders with CG hooks are giving towpilots trouble?

Or is it a pilot problem?

George, this was initially a pilot problem. A 15 year old student on her 3rd solo pattern tow and an older guy with obvious physical problems who had not taken an aero tow in a year or more are not the safest people to tow. That being said the next problem as previously stated is the Schweizer hook. It is well documented that under extreme pressure pulling the handle requires a herculean effort which I understand the a Tost conversion will correct. Then there is the question of the size and position of the release handle. It should be easily accessable and provide the necessary mechanical advantage. Someone mentioned reaction time. In one case I could see the belly of the glider in the mirror and I knew things were about to go bad but even if my hand was on the release at the time, by the time I knew I HAD to do it it would have been too late. It happened in the wink of an eye. The second time I could not see the glider as the student was out to the right and there is no mirror on the right side of the tow plane. There is ''NO ONE SIMPLE FIX."

Walt