Fatal Towplane Accident 5-9-20

This is very sad. My condolences to everyone who knew and loved the tow pilot… and to the sailplane pilot and his family and friends as well.

In watching the dashcam video, I realize that there is a second aspect to these accidents that I hadn’t previously recognized. All the energy to accelerate the glider along its longer flight path (crack the whip style) and the potential energy it gained with increasing altitude, came from the tow plane’s kinetic energy. It is not just a matter of overpowering the tow pilot’s pitch authority; we’ve also robbed him of flying speed.

Further note, it takes less than 2 seconds for the transition from a standard tow position to what is surely an unrecoverable situation for the tow plane.

Mike Koerner

On Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at 11:32:36 PM UTC-4, wrote:
This is very sad. My condolences to everyone who knew and loved the tow pilot… and to the sailplane pilot and his family and friends as well..

In watching the dashcam video, I realize that there is a second aspect to these accidents that I hadn’t previously recognized. All the energy to accelerate the glider along its longer flight path (crack the whip style) and the potential energy it gained with increasing altitude, came from the tow plane’s kinetic energy. It is not just a matter of overpowering the tow pilot’s pitch authority; we’ve also robbed him of flying speed.

Further note, it takes less than 2 seconds for the transition from a standard tow position to what is surely an unrecoverable situation for the tow plane.

Mike Koerner

Correct! You just described the dynamics of the early stage of a winch launch! The Russians experimented with this sort of thing decades ago by paying out a long line from the tow plane during the tow and then initiating a dive while the glider went into a winch-like attitude. They basically sling-shot the glider to very high altitudes that way.

Anyone interested to discuss and work on a conceptual technical solution beyond Schweizer vs. Tost hook outside of this group, please contact me at moc.oohay@nnamuenilu

Uli
'AS'