Towpilot fatality in Oregon

On Sep 11, 7:38*am, GARY BOGGS wrote:
*The combination has killed more than one tug
pilot and will probably take a few more.

Andy

This thought has been haunting me for quite a while now. *It seems to
me that we need to change the way we train our glider pilots AND our
tow pilots. *I think tow pilots need to start regularly practicing
pulling the release when the glider gets too high. *If he has never
practiced this maneuver, which 99.9% of tow pilots haven't, they will
never do it in an actual tow going bad! *From the accounts here, both
pilots have very little time to react, and if either pilot hesitates,
it might be another fatality. *Glider pilots regularly practice rope
breaks so that our reactions are correct and rapid. *I’m going to
start retraining all my tug drivers to give the glider pilot the rope
if he gets too high and our glider pilots to just pull the release
when he gets too high instead of attempting recovery.

I have emailed Oregon Glider Pilot and asked him who he is but he’s
not telling. *How about it OGP, who are you?

Additional training would be good. I also suggest some tests of the
tug release on the ground with strong upward rope tension. I can
imagine a setup with the tug secured to the ground with a pulley block
rigged to a hangar roof beam allowing controlled tension and angle.

I think you'll find even the inverted Schweizer release may not
operate easily.

bildan wrote:

On Sep 11, 7:38*am, GARY BOGGS wrote:
*The combination has killed more than one tug
pilot and will probably take a few more.

Andy

This thought has been haunting me for quite a while now. *It seems to
me that we need to change the way we train our glider pilots AND our
tow pilots. *I think tow pilots need to start regularly practicing
pulling the release when the glider gets too high. *If he has never
practiced this maneuver, which 99.9% of tow pilots haven't, they will
never do it in an actual tow going bad! *From the accounts here, both
pilots have very little time to react, and if either pilot hesitates,
it might be another fatality. *Glider pilots regularly practice rope
breaks so that our reactions are correct and rapid. *I’m going to
start retraining all my tug drivers to give the glider pilot the rope
if he gets too high and our glider pilots to just pull the release
when he gets too high instead of attempting recovery.

I have emailed Oregon Glider Pilot and asked him who he is but he’s
not telling. *How about it OGP, who are you?

Additional training would be good. I also suggest some tests of the
tug release on the ground with strong upward rope tension. I can
imagine a setup with the tug secured to the ground with a pulley block
rigged to a hangar roof beam allowing controlled tension and angle.

I think you'll find even the inverted Schweizer release may not
operate easily.

I tried exactly this test on our PA18 with US hook. I tied the rope to
a post and tried to release on full throttle - turned out it was
impossible.

On closer examination, I found the hook to have a groove where the
retaining bar rests. Once this was dressed out, the release worked
again. Well worth having a look at yours.

Gary, you're right to be concerned, but bear in mind when we did some
tests in the UK we concluded that in a worst case scenario there was NO
CHANCE that either tug pilot or glider pilot would react in time, however
well trained. Prevention is better than cure in this case, DON'T AEROTOW
ON CG HOOKS. Do bear in mind that Schweizer hooks may jam under high loads
(such as those produced when a glider pitches nose up on tow) and consider
replacing/modifying them, it won't help in the very worst cases but it
may well in some of the others.

At 13:38 11 September 2009, GARY BOGGS wrote:
=A0The combination has killed more than one tug
pilot and will probably take a few more.

Andy

This thought has been haunting me for quite a while now. It seems to
me that we need to change the way we train our glider pilots AND our
tow pilots. I think tow pilots need to start regularly practicing
pulling the release when the glider gets too high. If he has never
practiced this maneuver, which 99.9% of tow pilots haven't, they will
never do it in an actual tow going bad! From the accounts here, both
pilots have very little time to react, and if either pilot hesitates,
it might be another fatality. Glider pilots regularly practice rope
breaks so that our reactions are correct and rapid. I=92m going to
start retraining all my tug drivers to give the glider pilot the rope
if he gets too high and our glider pilots to just pull the release
when he gets too high instead of attempting recovery.

I have emailed Oregon Glider Pilot and asked him who he is but he=92s
not telling. How about it OGP, who are you?

Chris Rollings wrote:
Gary, you're right to be concerned, but bear in mind when we did some
tests in the UK we concluded that in a worst case scenario there was NO
CHANCE that either tug pilot or glider pilot would react in time, however
well trained. Prevention is better than cure in this case, DON'T AEROTOW
ON CG HOOKS. Do bear in mind that Schweizer hooks may jam under high loads
(such as those produced when a glider pitches nose up on tow) and consider
replacing/modifying them, it won't help in the very worst cases but it
may well in some of the others.

At 13:38 11 September 2009, GARY BOGGS wrote:
=A0The combination has killed more than one tug
pilot and will probably take a few more.

Andy
This thought has been haunting me for quite a while now. It seems to
me that we need to change the way we train our glider pilots AND our
tow pilots. I think tow pilots need to start regularly practicing
pulling the release when the glider gets too high. If he has never
practiced this maneuver, which 99.9% of tow pilots haven't, they will
never do it in an actual tow going bad! From the accounts here, both
pilots have very little time to react, and if either pilot hesitates,
it might be another fatality. Glider pilots regularly practice rope
breaks so that our reactions are correct and rapid. I=92m going to
start retraining all my tug drivers to give the glider pilot the rope
if he gets too high and our glider pilots to just pull the release
when he gets too high instead of attempting recovery.

I have emailed Oregon Glider Pilot and asked him who he is but he=92s
not telling. How about it OGP, who are you?

Just out of curiosity, do the problems with releasing under high load
that are known with the Schweizer hook extend also to the Tost hook?

Ed

Just out of curiosity, do the problems with releasing under high
load
that are known with the Schweizer hook extend also to the Tost hook?

Ed

No, Tost hooks are fine. The Polish hooks are great too. It's a real
shame the Mcfarlane replacement towhook is not able to be used on most
Schweizers & towplanes though. It has a roller bearing, hardened ways,
improved ring positioning and increased leverage. It looks much like a
Schweizer hook and mounts w/same bolt pattern, however it DOES release
under pressure. http://www.mcfarlaneaviation.com/new.../march2007.htm

-Paul

What stops it being used, is it just the lack of STC for each type of
glider/tow-plane?

At 16:05 12 September 2009, sisu1a wrote:
Just out of curiosity, do the problems with releasing under high
load
that are known with the Schweizer hook extend also to the Tost hook?

Ed

No, Tost hooks are fine. The Polish hooks are great too. It's a real
shame the Mcfarlane replacement towhook is not able to be used on most
Schweizers & towplanes though. It has a roller bearing, hardened ways,
improved ring positioning and increased leverage. It looks much like a
Schweizer hook and mounts w/same bolt pattern, however it DOES release
under pressure.
http://www.mcfarlaneaviation.com/new.../march2007.htm

-Paul

What stops it being used, is it just the lack of STC for each type of
glider/tow-plane?

Precisely, but that's a big 'just'...

-Paul

On Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:23:55 +0100, Chris Reed wrote:

Many UK thermals where I fly are narrow and sharp-edged. A couple of
weeks ago I was hurled up *way* above the tug (I needed to pitch the
nose down maybe 30 degrees to maintain it in sight), and was about to
release when it all started to come back together and I regained
attitude control in relation to the tug. This was only at around 200ft,
probably aggravated by the effect of some building immediately upwind.

I experienced something similar many years ago. I was flying a Std
Austria in a competition in hot summer desert conditions in Vryburg,
South Africa. When my turn came to launch, a Cessnar 180 tug pulled up in
front. Just after I gave the signal for “all out� I noticed a dusty on
the left side of the airfield. When we were rolling I noticed the dusty
moving across the airfield towards our runway. Just after the tug got
airborne it's left wing flew through the dusty. The Cessnar wing was
pushed up to a 45 deg angle. I thought the right wing would touch the
ground and that the tug would cartwheel. I was ready to release and
anticipating having to fly over a cartwheeling tug. But the tug pilot got
it under control and leveled his wings again. Then I hit the dusty - dead
centre. There was a big bump and lots of dust. Moments later, the
visibility cleared and I was way up – maybe 50 feet - above the tug. But
there was a loop in the rope and the glider was under control. The runway
sloped downhill and there was not enough length left to land ahead and
not much scope for landing downwind towards the rest of the gliders on
the grid. So I hung on, concentrating on keeping the loop in the rope,
with my hand ready to pull the release if the rope got tight. Eventually
the tug climbed to my altitude, I got back into the low tow position that
we were using, the rope went tight and we completed the launch. I landed
out that day and I never got a chance to talk to the tug pilot. I think
if he had any idea where I was he would have released me.

Ian

On Sep 14, 3:18*pm, Ian wrote:
When we were rolling I noticed the dusty
moving across the airfield towards our runway.

Faced with the same situation again would you chose to release?
Arizona has stong summer thermals many of which produce dust devils.
It's not uncommon to delay a launch rather than fly into the path of
one at very low altitude.

Andy

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:35:46 -0700, Andy wrote:

On Sep 14, 3:18Â*pm, Ian wrote:
When we were rolling I noticed the dusty moving across the airfield
towards our runway.

Faced with the same situation again would you chose to release? Arizona
has stong summer thermals many of which produce dust devils. It's not
uncommon to delay a launch rather than fly into the path of one at very
low altitude.

Hindsite is 20/20 vision.

There was a whole grid of gliders behind me anxious to get launched
during the "weather window". Aborting may have seen me launching at the
back of the grid, after the gate had opened.

I noticed the dusty after I had given the all out signal. At that stage
it was still 100's of meters away from our runway. Next time I saw it,
was in my peripheral vision and the glider was already airbone. It was
moving much faster than I would have expected and it turned out to be
much stronger.

Clearly we got that one wrong. The right time to hold the launch was
before it started. But it was a pretty freak occurence. If it happened
again I am not sure if I would call it right.

Ian