CG hook on aero tows??

"Mike Borgelt" wrote in message

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I don't ever recall the 20B having the slightest tendency to pitch up
on aerotow on the belly release.
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Mike Borgelt

Mike, I have flown a number of different gliders on air tow using a CG hook.
None of them had a tendency to pitch-up either. My Nimbus 2C tows just fine
with a CG hook. Airtow with a CG hook isn't a problem -- as long as the tow
is flown normally.

It is after the glider gets seriously out of position that the problems
arise. With a CG hook, it is easier to get out of position through pilot
inattention, and once there, the situation can very quickly become
unrecoverable. It is difficult to believe how fast things can go from
seeming normal to horribly wrong unless you have been there and done that.
It is so dangerous that no instructor would deliberately subject a tow
pilot, a student and himself to it just for training.

I encountered this once more than 40 years ago. I was a young student
pilot flying a glider known for it's challenging flight characteristics. At
the time, no weaklinks were required in the 200 foot, 9/16" nylon rope.
Note that I don't claim that this would not have happened anyway with a nose
hook, but it wouldn't have happened as easily.

I was inattentive, lulled into complacency by the smooth air. Instead of
watching the tug, I was watching the scenery. Sudden G forces woke me up as
the glider soared above the tug and to the right. Both the gliders and the
tug's releases jammed under the stress. The tug dove to the left and
pulled me it into the dive after it.

It was only because the aerodynamically clean glider could outdive the tug
that the rope went slack and both releases functioned simultaneously. We
both landed safely, but I bought beer for that tug pilot for several years
afterward. Had this occurred under 1000 feet, we both would have died. I
never looked at air tow the same way again.

The concern about airtow with CG hooks is for a condition that lies well
outside the experience of 99% of glider pilots. If you airtow with a CG
hook, keep in mind that a dragon lurks outside the normal airtow box. Don't
go there.

Bill Daniels