Letter to the FAA

At 03:54 01 June 2017, wrote:
Nice discussion but.....
you are not considering the tow planes that have a winch system for tows.
There is a winch inside the fuselage that retracts the tow line after
each
tow.
At Williams they have a guillotine sytem to cut the tow line if needed.
For a dedicated tow plane this seems to be the most logical solution.
Really saves wear on the tow rope and provides a very predictable way to
"cut the cord" when needed.

Likewise is there any data regarding inverted Schweizer tow hooks?
We operated a commercial soaring operation using a 182 with an
inverted Schweizer hook for over 25 years. None of our tow pilots
ever had a problem releasing a kiting glider. There are undoubtedly
other operations that also used an inverted Schweizer hook.

We did also encourage tow pilots, that if the glider started to get high
to put their hand on the release handle (located on the floor between
the seats) and if the yoke touched the aft stop to immediately release.

Also is there any data regarding the Schweizer style hook with the roller
sold by Mcfarlan?

M Eiler

As a sailplane pilot, I was taught to release IMMEDIATELY, if I lost sight of the tow plane. In these kiting accidents, how high are the sailplanes getting above normal tow path and about how long would they have lost sight of tow plane?

On Thursday, June 1, 2017 at 12:30:07 AM UTC-7, soarin wrote:
At 03:54 01 June 2017, wrote:
Nice discussion but.....
you are not considering the tow planes that have a winch system for tows.
There is a winch inside the fuselage that retracts the tow line after
each
tow.
At Williams they have a guillotine sytem to cut the tow line if needed.
For a dedicated tow plane this seems to be the most logical solution.
Really saves wear on the tow rope and provides a very predictable way to
"cut the cord" when needed.

Likewise is there any data regarding inverted Schweizer tow hooks?
We operated a commercial soaring operation using a 182 with an
inverted Schweizer hook for over 25 years. None of our tow pilots
ever had a problem releasing a kiting glider. There are undoubtedly
other operations that also used an inverted Schweizer hook.

We did also encourage tow pilots, that if the glider started to get high
to put their hand on the release handle (located on the floor between
the seats) and if the yoke touched the aft stop to immediately release.

Also is there any data regarding the Schweizer style hook with the roller
sold by Mcfarlan?

M Eiler

Originally Posted by Jonathan St. Cloud

As a sailplane pilot, I was taught to release IMMEDIATELY, if I lost sight of the tow plane. In these kiting accidents, how high are the sailplanes getting above normal tow path and about how long would they have lost sight of tow plane?

On Thursday, June 1, 2017 at 12:30:07 AM UTC-7, soarin wrote:
At 03:54 01 June 2017, wrote:
Nice discussion but.....
you are not considering the tow planes that have a winch system for tows.
There is a winch inside the fuselage that retracts the tow line after
each
tow.
At Williams they have a guillotine sytem to cut the tow line if needed.
For a dedicated tow plane this seems to be the most logical solution.
Really saves wear on the tow rope and provides a very predictable way to
"cut the cord" when needed.

Likewise is there any data regarding inverted Schweizer tow hooks?
We operated a commercial soaring operation using a 182 with an
inverted Schweizer hook for over 25 years. None of our tow pilots
ever had a problem releasing a kiting glider. There are undoubtedly
other operations that also used an inverted Schweizer hook.

We did also encourage tow pilots, that if the glider started to get high
to put their hand on the release handle (located on the floor between
the seats) and if the yoke touched the aft stop to immediately release.

Also is there any data regarding the Schweizer style hook with the roller
sold by Mcfarlan?

M Eiler

I would hope that all glider pilots in their training understand the need to release immediately when they lose sight of the tow plane. The problem is that not everything everyone is trained to do is accomplished when needed.

In my case a 15 year old on her first solos kited not just high and fast but to the right, pulling my nose down and to the left as if in a spin and does this below 350 feet, this happened in the wink of an eye. We can discuss recurrent trainining which would not have entered into the picture in this situation. We can discuss emphasis on releasing but getting someone to actually do it is another thing. We can discuss it until the cows come home but the bottom line is the tow pilot must be given a fighting chance to have a determination in the outcome when others involved in the situation fail.

Walt

You can keep terminally ill patients from dying of their disease by shooting them in the head. Works every time.