Aerotowing Hang Gliders by Steve Young
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Disagree with respect to pitch control when flying through thermal induced lift and sink...
Roll control... Yeah, we're dangerously roll unstable on tow, And nobody needs to be told this. Up high if we delay a roll correction a half second the tow's over. Down low if we delay a roll correction a half second the tow's over and we're dead.
Not that we're not gonna react properly and instantly but pitch control isn't that big a fucking deal. And if it were comparable to what's happening with roll NOBODY would be maintaining a pro toad flight in thermal conditions for very long.
On a thermal conditions aerotow it's a real good rule that what goes down must come up and vice versa. If you instantly rocket down to tug level when he's sunk he's gonna pass you on the way back up in the associated lift he's just encountered. I'm sure what we all do when we see the tug drop - including Steve despite what he's saying - is lag a bit, pull in to get halfway down to his level, wait for him to pop back up, stay with him as things stabilize. Likewise for when we see him get popped.
Yeah, the glider pilot NEEDS to pull "ON" quickly and TRY to stay with the tug, then ease the bar out to TRY to keep the tension on the line. Right. We can't actually do it so why try? We can see from the towline chute that tension's surging and going to near slack as these planes get bounced around. And so what? All we wanna do is stay in position as best we can in the circumstances to make things as easy as possible on the tug and execute an efficient tow.The glider pilot needs to pull on quickly and try to stay with the tug, then ease the bar out to try to keep the tension on the line
And if you're really serious about that you hook up with a two point bridle to properly trim the glider, a release you can blow instantly while maintaining max possible control of the glider, and a weak link rated to protect against structural overload and not to prevent you and the tug from getting into too much trouble. And Steve's doing none of those. And if he had been then Davis sure as hell wouldn't have been plugging his video on his rag.
And speaking of Davis's rag... Newsletter division is again visible but essentially nonfunctional as of this post.