Are Weak Links really Necessary for Aero Tow?

Doug Haluza wrote:
Oh, my, where to start?

How about with your condisending tude?

No, I'm saying the airplane was designed to handle flight and landing
loads, based on it's max gross weight. These loads on the tail are only
a fraction of it's weight. The glider can transfer most of the lifting
force developed by the wing to the rope if a C.G. hook is used for
aerotow. An aircraft with a design load limit of 4.4 G's will have an
ultimate load limit 6.6 G's so a glider with a 1000 lb gross weight
could deliver over 6000 lb of force, before the glider's wings failed.

OK now focus here Doug, the math is not in dispute. The question is
whether a glider could exert this force while on tow.

After an upset, the towplane will enter an unrecoverable dive, and if
the rope does not break, the speeds will quickly increase beyond
maneuvering speed.

But what makes you think the dive would be "Unrecoverable" just because
the tow plane is past its manurering speed?

You can't pull out of the dive if the glider is still attached to your
tail by a rope that won't break. And if you have a Schweizer hook on
the tail, it may not release after the upset because the pull is
greater and may no longer be straight back. There have been several
cases of upset where the tow pilot could not make the hook release, and
the dive would have been unrecoverable if the rope did not break.

Completely true statement.But, as the nose of the tow plane drops, this
would change the angle on the release would it not?A couple of local
pilots tried this (At altitude of course) and found this to be the
case.Now at low altitudes, all bets are off of course.This is the
beauty of the tost hook.

Even if you tow with a Tost hook, you still need to react and operate
the release.

Doesnt this go without saying?
I have to take issue with your previous post where you implied that a
pilot could get away with aerobatics in a Super Cub as long as he wasnt
doing "Tailslides".To coin your phrase this is "Ignorant Thinking".You
should read my response to Baron 58Yankee on this one.I think that any
aerobatics in a Super Cub should be discuraged.
Most Respectfully Yours,
KMU

KM wrote:
OK now focus here Doug, the math is not in dispute. The question is
whether a glider could exert this force while on tow.

If both aircraft are in a steep dive from a high altitude upset, and
the glider pilot panics and pulls the sitck, it certainly can. But it
really doesn't matter--using a dockline as a tow rope means it won't
break before one of the aircraft does.

But what makes you think the dive would be "Unrecoverable" just because
the tow plane is past its manurering speed?

The dive after an upset will be unrecoverable as long as the glider
stays attached to the towplane.