On Aug 29, 6:05*pm, tstock wrote:
On Aug 29, 4:34*pm, wrote:

Educational video...
Murphy's law at work... one thing leads to another...
towplane: Wilga
glider: LAK
place and time: competition at Pila in Poland, late August 2009
towplane's engine misses than cuts off during takeoff
prop collides with the wingtiphttp://picasaweb.google.pl/Wojtekpara/Wypadek#5238527461393125826

Andre V, CFIG

Any clues as to what caused the tow pilot to lose control at the end
of the runway and/or make the hard right turn into the glider's path?

After watching this a couple of times, it appears to me the tug pilot
intended to turn around and didn't lose control until he saw the
glider about to collide with him - a failure to maintain situational
awareness.

I've had a tug abruptly stop on the runway centerline just after I was
airborne forcing me to fly around him - it's an experience I won't
forget. Just as in flight, the tug pilot should bear left if aborting
takeoff on the runway so the glider has somewhere to go.

The PZL 104 Wilga's Russian Ivchenko/Vedeneyev radial can be a cranky
beast - 'ready to go' and 'ready to quit' sound about the same. The
tug pilot may have been confused by that.