high tow vs low tow

On Monday, February 25, 2019 at 10:09:35 AM UTC-5, Cookie wrote:
You make some very good arguments in favor of low tow....Does that mean you win the overall argument?...I dunno?..most glider ops in USA still use high tow. ( guess they have their reasons?)

My concern about all of this tow position stuff is this....
Does using low tow simply mask the "symptom", the larger problem of not-so-proficient glider pilots on tow?

In the incidents I've seen or heard about... It was always the glider pilots lack of skill, or inattention, which caused the problem...the root cause was the glider pilot, not the tow position...

That being said....If I were a tow pilot (I'm not)...and I were towing somebody in a glider, who I had no idea of his ability, experience, etc....I would be much happier if he flew low position...


Cookie


Not trying to win anything but if I can clear up some misinformation it could be a good thing. Knowledge is important and commonly limited.
Low tow may mask proficiency issues a bit simply because it is a bit easier to do- my experience.
I completely agree that proficiency is a major concern. How many things do we do only 20 or 30 times a year that can kill somebody if we do it wrong?
The point Chris R made about rope length is also very important.Short ropes make position errors more critical.
UH

On Monday, February 25, 2019 at 11:45:25 AM UTC-5, wrote:
On Monday, February 25, 2019 at 10:09:35 AM UTC-5, Cookie wrote:
You make some very good arguments in favor of low tow....Does that mean you win the overall argument?...I dunno?..most glider ops in USA still use high tow. ( guess they have their reasons?)

My concern about all of this tow position stuff is this....
Does using low tow simply mask the "symptom", the larger problem of not-so-proficient glider pilots on tow?

In the incidents I've seen or heard about... It was always the glider pilots lack of skill, or inattention, which caused the problem...the root cause was the glider pilot, not the tow position...

That being said....If I were a tow pilot (I'm not)...and I were towing somebody in a glider, who I had no idea of his ability, experience, etc....I would be much happier if he flew low position...


Cookie


Not trying to win anything but if I can clear up some misinformation it could be a good thing. Knowledge is important and commonly limited.
Low tow may mask proficiency issues a bit simply because it is a bit easier to do- my experience.
I completely agree that proficiency is a major concern. How many things do we do only 20 or 30 times a year that can kill somebody if we do it wrong?
The point Chris R made about rope length is also very important.Short ropes make position errors more critical.
UH

Jus' for clarity, the only bits I quoted Chris on are in quotes. I get the blame for everything else in that post.

T8