Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa3
On Sep 5, 10:12*am, GARY BOGGS wrote:
The NTSB said that the bent tow hook mount was inconsistent with the
crash. *It is also very hard for me to imagine that a tow rope would
be strong enough to bend the tow hook mount.
Sorry about the lawyer comment. *I hope it's not true.
FWIW, when I was a new instructor, I allowed one student to get a
little too far behind the PIO curve on tow (this well above 1,000
feet) and we swung rapidly from low and right to high and left. Ka-
thwang - there was a God awful jerk and I saw the towplane (an L-19)
diving away. We'd actually broken the tow hitch from the towplane
(it remained connected by the release cable). The mounting plate was
pretty mangled. Luckily, I wasn't mangled by the towpilot, who gave
me a well-deserved dressing down behind the hangar.
Not saying this is or isn't related to the Oregon crash, but it is
possible to do a significant amount of damage to the tow hitch if you
let enough slack develop and don't handle the recovery well...
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I suspect that in this case they were probably using the standard 1/4" polypropylene ropes with a theoretical rated breaking load of 1,000lbs. Even after a few tows off an asphalt runway I would think that it would be hard put to transmit a load much over 1,200 lbs even with the biggest snatch imaginable. Perhaps in your case you were towing with a much stronger rope with no weak link?
Gary, You say "NTSB said that the bent tow hook mount was inconsistent with the crash" - as I can't see the report listed on the NTSB's monthly summaries, I can only hope you are taking directly to the NTSB investigator rather than adding to the speculation with third-hand information.
I accept your apology regarding the lawyer comment, but I must emphasize the effect of that type of comment would have on those affected by this accident. Perhaps we should stick to verifiable first hand facts when adding to the discussion?
OGP