Towpilots ignoring turn signals

On Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 8:51:39 PM UTC-4, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
Don, what you do or do not do is of little relevance to the discussion at hand.

Maybe the UK is dead wrong in this case (or not), but it is useful to hear the divergence of opinion/experience. I'm waiting to see if anyone can cite a case of a botched USA signal causing a tug upset.

If the glider pilot botches the signal, and goes too far out of position horizontally, would that cause the tug a problem? If pilots are routinely sloppy about tow position, it's plausible that a 'please turn signal' could be badly botched. What are the scenarios for a botched 'please turn signal'?

Related: Is it safe to 'box the wake' while the tug is making a turn? I vaguely recall that a CFI-G had me do that once or twice.

On Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 5:00:06 AM UTC-4, Don Johnstone wrote:
If I were to fly out of position behind a tug I would only have one
expectation, to be given the rope. Trying to steer the tug by flying out to
the side, seriously?

There's no reason why you could not box the wake during a turn or why
the tug could not execute a turn during a boxing exercise other than the
CFI-G doesn't seem to want to do it. It's simply extended trail
formation flying as is the tow.

On 5/1/2015 6:13 AM, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 8:51:39 PM UTC-4, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
Don, what you do or do not do is of little relevance to the discussion at hand.
Maybe the UK is dead wrong in this case (or not), but it is useful to hear the divergence of opinion/experience. I'm waiting to see if anyone can cite a case of a botched USA signal causing a tug upset.

If the glider pilot botches the signal, and goes too far out of position horizontally, would that cause the tug a problem? If pilots are routinely sloppy about tow position, it's plausible that a 'please turn signal' could be badly botched. What are the scenarios for a botched 'please turn signal'?

Related: Is it safe to 'box the wake' while the tug is making a turn? I vaguely recall that a CFI-G had me do that once or twice.

On Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 5:00:06 AM UTC-4, Don Johnstone wrote:
If I were to fly out of position behind a tug I would only have one
expectation, to be given the rope. Trying to steer the tug by flying out to
the side, seriously?

--
Dan Marotta