Hang Gliding - 1999/01
Incident Reports
by USHGA Accident Review Chairman Bill Bryden
1998/10/25 17:45 - Jamie Alexander / Frank Spears, Jr.
There are a couple of aerotowing accidents...
Accidents? I thought this discussion was gonna be about incidents.
...to report and discuss this month. The first tragically involves tow fatalities on a tandem flight. An instructor, Jamie Alexander and student pilot Frank Spears, Jr., died in the accident. We extend our thoughts and prayers to them and their families.
Yeah, we always do - frequently.
The accident occurred October 25, near Groveland, Florida.
Groveland? This wouldn't be Quest you're talking about?
It was an evening flight, approximately 5:45 PM, and was the last of numerous tandem and solo aerotow flights occurring that day.
Really? They had another forty-five minutes to go before sunset. I'm surprised they weren't able to get another ten hops off the ground before they were legally required to pack it up. Where's Davis when you really need him?
Conditions were mellow with a light two-to-five mph wind. Conditions had been stronger earlier in the day, 15 to 18 mph with gusts to 20.
The glider was equipped with tricycle landing gear consisting of castering wheels mounted to the control bar, and aft, a tailwheel assembly supporting the keel. This widely used system allows the glider to launch and land rolling on the gear, eliminating the need for a launch cart.
And a lot of broken downtubes and arms and dislocated shoulders... but I digress.
The harness was the over/under style tandem harness that is used in a number of tandem operations around the country. The 175-pound instructor was in the top harness and the 198-pound student was in the lower harness.
This was the student's tenth instructional flight and his training was progressing normally. On this flight the student was flying the glider, hands on the basetube with the instructor at the "ready" position on the downtubes. After launching and becoming airborne the glider popped up a bit high behind the tug, but the position was soon corrected.
BFD.
This suggests that the student was controlling the glider with the instructor initiating the correction either verbally or physically.
Shortly thereafter, the glider began oscillating in roll and yaw, again suggesting the student was piloting and over-controlling the glider.
It might also suggest that there were twice as many Pilots Inducing Oscillation as is the case in a solo tow.
At a point just before things went bad, the tug climbed...
Oh. Things didn't really get bad until the tug climbed. How very interesting. (Just got a weird deja vu sensation.)
...and the glider got low behind the tug.
Oh. The glider got low behind the tug. Obviously by pulling in. When what it SHOULD have been doing, of course, was pushing out to stay level with the tug. Sounds like it was a really bad idea to let this student have this much control over the flight.
At about 75 feet AGL...
Glad you clarified that. I was thinking MSL.
...one of the oscillations progressed into a left turn that quickly accelerated into a bank of approximately 80 or 90 degrees...
- Well obviously then...
Quest Air
The strength of the weak link is crucial to a safe tow. It should be weak enough so that it will break before the pressure of the towline reaches a level that compromises the handling of the glider but strong enough so that it doesn't break every time you fly into a bit of rough air. A good rule of thumb for the optimum strength is one G.
Towing Aloft - 1998/01
Weak links very clearly will provide protection from excessive angles of attack, high bank turns and the like for this form of towing.
...the problem was that they either were using a weak link WELL in excess of one G or weren't using one at all. From the pros at Quest no less. Go figure.
- Isn't that phenomenon usually referred to as a "lockout"?
...at which time the rope was released from the glider. The glider then slipped/dove into the ground impacting on the left leading edge, then nose, finally rolling over on the right leading edge and kingpost. The occupants impacted the ground with major injury to the head, neck, back and internal organs of both. Frank died at the site and Jamie the next morning at the hospital.
Angelo Mantas - 2005/08/30
The glider continued rotating left and dove into the ground, first hitting the left wing tip, then nose. The glider's pitch was near vertical on impact, confirmed by the fact that the control bar, except for a bend in one downtube, was basically intact, whereas the keel and one leading edge snapped just behind the nose plate junction. Mike suffered a broken spinal cord and was probably killed instantly.
This just happens over and over and over! What have we gotta do to get people to use properly applied weak links? The solution is SO SIMPLE! I repeat... Where's Davis when you really need him? Or, failing that, Bobby?
INVESTIGATOR COMMENTS
WHAT investigator? And what was his relationship with the tug driver? (Assuming he wasn't the tug driver.) And what was his relationship with Quest?
While there may have been a wind gradient at about 75 feet, it is not believed that the conditions were a main contributing factor. In the investigator's opinion, the student was probably allowed to fly the glider too much at the critical time near the ground.
- Sounds to me a lot more like the goddam tug driver was allowed to fly the Dragonfly too much at the critical time near the ground - à la Gates Field 1996/07/25 and Hang Glide Chicago 2005/04 and 2005/09/03.
- By the way... How come we don't have a name on the goddam tug driver?
With the student having more body mass and possibly being stronger, and being in the lower harness position which affords more control and leverage, it is possible that the student's control efforts overpowered the instructor's.
Yeah, I'll bet it was that stupid oaf of a student who overpowered Jamie and forced the glider to get low behind the tug while Jamie was doing everything he could to push out and climb into proper position.
Earlier in the day the student had flown with an instructor who outweighed him and likely would have remembered the amount of control effort required then, which would be excessive with the much lighter instructor.
And I'm guessing that the instructor had no experience in dampening out the control inputs to get them back to something a little smoother.
OTHER INCIDENTS
Given the vast number of aerotows that take place each year and the tremendous growth of this towing method, the small number of accidents...
The ones that are so spectacular that the flight parks have a hard time covering them up anyway...
...does bode quite favorably for the safety of aerotowing. However, we have seen a few other aerotowing incidents this year as follows.
A student who had completed numerous tandem flights and extensive training hill instruction with an experienced instructor in radio contact. Soon after clearing the launch dolly, the glider began a gentle left turn and the instructor commanded more right input via the radio. This corrected the problem, but as soon as the pilot ceased correction the glider again began turning left. Instructions for corrective action were radioed but the turn progressed and the instructor commanded "release." The weak link broke. The glider continued turning left and impacted on the left wing. The pilot suffered a mid-back vertebral fracture requiring surgery.
- How odd. I've always understood that the weak link will break before you can get into too much trouble. OH, RIGHT! It did! Maybe we should spend more time discussing how much trouble you can get into AFTER the weak link breaks.
- What's going on with the glider such that it requires constant right input to prevent it from locking out to the left?
A student pilot was making his 13th solo aerotow and expressed a high degree of concern about it being number 13. The pilot launched, cleared the launch dolly and began a left turn. Observers commented that there was absolutely no input from the pilot to correct. The turn progressed and the tug pilot released the towline.
Sounds like a bad move to me. The tug driver should never release the glider if it's not in much trouble and the weak link will break before the glider can get into too much trouble. Therefore we KNOW that this glider wasn't in much trouble at the time he was released.
The glider continued turning, making almost a full 180-degree turn with no discernible pilot correction, impacting on the left wing and injuring the pilot.
Same glider?
It is not known why the pilot failed to initiate proper correction but there is suspicion that a previous medical condition may have been a factor.
Triskaidekaphobia maybe? The "pilot" had already visualized what would inevitably happen to him on this flight and - big surprise - things unfolded exactly as he was expecting them to?
DISCUSSION
As we have seen with previous aerotowing incidents, the launch and initial climbout are intensely critical. Over the years, numerous lockouts and similar events have occurred while aerotowing, at altitude, but these were basically non-events since the glider and tug separated and both continued flying with no adverse consequences.
And thus we can treat them as non-events, talk about our sterling safety records, and keep telling people that we have backup releases, weak links, and hook knives that will keep them safe and feeding them lies about releases within easy reach.
However, problems encountered during the first hundred feet of tow can produce extreme consequences.
No shit.
We cannot stress enough the need for both glider and tug pilots to exercise the utmost caution and respect for the first 200 feet of a tow -- any kind of tow for that matter. Situational awareness is critical. In the opinion of the fatal accident investigator (and I concur), we need to teach more about situational awareness.
- To which pilots? Glider or tug?
- BULLSHIT.
-- Incident 1
The student just had no idea how critical the launch was which is why he thought it would be OK to experiment with exaggerated control inputs - and the instructor was preoccupied thinking about the Hail Mary pass on the final play of last night's Dolphins/Cowboys game?
-- Incident 2
IF ONLY someone had taken the time to emphasize that a glider must be flown by a pilot once in a while during an aerotow launch.
-- Incident 3
Obviously that student should've been told just how deadly that first hundred feet could be so he would've been less resigned to the outcome predetermined by the number Thirteen.
When aerotowing this means that, especially during the first several hundred feet of the tow (the most critical), the pilot should have a plan in mind for exactly what he would do for any category of problem.
- If you're:
-- stalling, pull in
-- oscillating, fly the glider straight
-- locking out, try to go the other way
-- locked out, let go of the basetube and try to hit the lever without spinning it around the downtube then blow a good-bye kiss to your ass
- When your primary release malfunctions and your backup is overloaded pretend you have enough time for your hook knife to be of some more practical function than for the recovery crew to cut your body loose from the wreckage.
That about cover it?
Oops, forgot this one...
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=14230
pro tow set-up
Ryan Voight - 2009/11/03 05:24:31 UTC
Have you never pondered what you would do in a situation where you CAN'T LET GO to release? I'd purposefully break the weaklink, as described above. Instant hands free release
Thanks, Ryan.
He must know exactly where he is and what plan he would immediately implement should a problem occur.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/message/6726
Weaklinks
Peter Birren - 2008/10/27 23:41:49 UTC
Imagine if you will, just coming off the cart and center punching a thermal which takes you instantly straight up while the tug is still on the ground.
If he's too stupid to use ribbons along the runway he should think about what he's gonna do if he center punches a thermal which takes him straight up while the tug is still on the ground. But if he hits the thermal off center a bit there's probably not a whole lot of point in knowing where he is and trying to implement some sort of "plan".
Know what happens?
Yeah, Peter, I actually do.
VERY high towline forces and an over-the-top lockout. You'll have both hands on the basetube pulling it well past your knees but the glider doesn't come down and still the weaklink doesn't break (.8G).
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=14230
pro tow set-up
Ryan Voight - 2009/11/03 05:24:31 UTC
It works best in a lockout situation... if you're banked away from the tug and have the bar back by your belly button... let it out. Glider will pitch up, break weaklink, and you fly away.
Just let the bar out a little, break the weak link, and you fly away - just like the head off an ax handle.
So you pull whatever release you have but the one hand still on the basetube isn't enough to hold the nose down and you pop up and over into an unplanned semi-loop. Been there, done that... at maybe 200 feet agl.
And if he's too stupid to have ribbons up along the runway it's a no brainer that he's also too stupid to have a release actuator on his basetube - so he should plan on popping up and over into an unplanned semi-loop and pulling out of it before he slams in and breaks his stupid fucking neck.
For example, a common type of problem is to suddenly lose tow force. This could be due to a release malfunction, pilot error, a weak link break, or whatever.
OH! A weak link break can be an actual PROBLEM? Get out of here! Sounds like more of this crappy argument that being on tow is somehow safer than being off tow.
What's that it says in Towing Aloft?
"It is infinitely better to have a weak link break too soon rather than too late."
-- Towing Proverb
You should read it sometime. There's some really useful stuff in there.
The pilot should know exactly which way to go and how he will land in those situations BEFORE the event potentially transpires. Altitude is minimal and you simply do not have the time for much evaluation and decision-making after the problem occurs. What if the tug suddenly loses power? What is the plan to land from 100 feet? Which way will the tug pilot turn and the glider pilot turn so they do not collide while scrambling to effect safe landings? Until what altitude does the pilot just continue forward and land versus trying to turn and land?
- The tug's gonna hafta land where it has to land and the glider's gonna hafta not fly into the tug.
- How is this relevant to any of the incidents on which you just reported?
- Is this scenario common and problematic enough to be worth talking about - given all the real life deadly shit on which we should be focusing?
Situational awareness is the process of mentally going through "what if" scenarios and knowing exactly what you would do for any given problem, at any given altitude, during every single flight.
- Incident 1
If you lock out low - release, pull in, and wait to die. If you're flying tandem try to use the other person's body to cushion the impact enough so that you don't die until the next morning.
- Incident 2
If you notice the tug not turning to the left you should also not turn to the left.
- Incident 3
If you notice the tug not turning to the right you should also not turn to the right.
Failing that you should fly and land the glider after separation instead of not flying and not landing the glider after separation.
As we saw with this tandem accident and others, at low altitudes instructors must take over control of the glider at the first sign of improper flying by the student.
Unlike Jamie who was just hanging there the whole time, waiting to see what would happen next, and doing NOTHING.
This was the student's tenth instructional flight and his training was progressing normally.
This was the student's tenth instructional flight and his training was progressing normally. Normally the student's flying from the bottom position at this point. Normally students make small mistakes and get the opportunity to fix them without the goddam instructor taking over control of the glider at the first sign of improper flying. This is how students learn to take off and fly.
At a point just before things went bad, the tug climbed...
THINGS DIDN'T GO BAD UNTIL THE GODDAM TUG CLIMBED. AND YOU'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT THE GODDAM TUG AND ITS RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.
Allowing students too much opportunity to "fix" problems at low altitude risks getting into a situation in which the low altitude does not permit recovery. When near the ground your methods must be as close to 100% as possible, and giving too much control and correction responsibility to students can seriously compromise that.
Bill, you'd hafta work your ass off for the next two hundred years just to make it up to the level of off the scale stupid.
While more data is needed to draw firm conclusions...
Yeah, if you have total shit for brains. Otherwise you can just use common sense and don't need any data whatsoever.
...it appears that there may be a correlation between a glider getting low behind a tug and bad things happening.
Listen real carefully this time, douchebag...
GLIDERS DO NOT GET LOW BEHIND TUGS. TUGS GET HIGH IN FRONT OF GLIDERS.
Read what you said:
At a point just before things went bad, the tug climbed...
- THE TUG CLIMBED. The tug's the one with the engine. The tug's the one who determines how high he is in relation to the glider. Yeah, a thermal can temporarily blast him up above the glider but that wasn't the case with this driver or the one who killed Bill and Mike and the one who's gonna kill Arlan and Jeremiah.
- If the goddam tug DOES climb the ONLY safe option the glider has is to pull in and get and stay fast and low.
There have been similarities in several incidents in which the glider got low...
...TUG GOT HIGH...
...and similar problems and consequences have occurred.
When low behind a tug, a glider risks entering the prop wash and wing tip vortices from the tug. This turbulence can be difficult to counter.
Yeah. That's why you can't have total idiots flying tugs and and not understanding that they've got other lives dependent upon their actions.
In addition, the pilot is typically flying slower, maybe even pushing out and control may be significantly diminished because of the low airspeed.
Dave Farkas - 1996/08/02
I was checking the glider in the mirror as we climbed out and it appeared a little low, but not way off. Mike seemed pushed out, but not all the way.
So if they're typically flying slower, maybe even pushing out, how come we've gotta keep listening to this lunatic crap about gliders getting low behind tugs from you morons?
Being yawed or rolled are potential events which compound the control issues already facing the pilot.
No shit.
This heightens the importance for a pilot, and when flying tandem for the instructor, to be especially intolerant of positional errors behind the tug.
What about the goddam tug driver? How come we're not talking about HIS positional error? 'Cause in hang gliding it's just so much more convenient to lay all the blame on the dead guys?
However, if the glider does get low...
This is the fifth time you've talked about the glider being low while totally ignoring the issue of why it's in that relative position.
...what should the pilot do? Pulling in aggressively and releasing is one option that deserves more consideration and that is probably under-utilized.
What's the other option, Bill? Trusting that the idiot who just outclimbed you will suddenly evolve into a competent pilot and start doing his job?
Conventional wisdom...
Right. You can use those two words consecutively in hang gliding.
...in some parts of the country recommends that if you are low behind the tug you should push out -- push out as much as desired because the glider can't stall.
Hang Gliding - 1997/05
Aerotowing
LEARNING HOW TO DO IT -- LEARNING HOW TO OPTIMIZE IT
by Austin Scott Collins, USHGA Aerotow Pilot
photos courtesy Wallaby Ranch
Your hang glider will fly at an artificially high angle of attack while under aerotow. It is virtually impossible to stall while being towed. If you push out you will not stall, you will only climb. If you get low (if the tug's wheels are above the horizon) you may have to push out hard to get back up. Do not be afraid to do this. You will climb, not stall.
Yeah, you assholes publish this crap in the NATIONAL MAGAZINE nineteen months before before Jamie and Frank are killed (less than twenty-two miles from Wallaby - speaking of "some parts of the country") and then have the gall to talk about "conventional wisdom"? Does USHGA have anybody with an IQ of 25 or better who can vet anything? Or is Tracy the best you can do?
And a zillion times more unbelievable... You assholes published this crap in the national magazine NINE MONTHS *AFTER* Bill and Mike are killed.
Aerotowing operations in other parts of the country eschew this advice, which involves hazards at low altitude as we'll discuss.
But USHGA lets everyone teach whatever the hell he wants 'cause the only safety issue it's really concerned with is making sure all its pilots can do no-steppers inside of fifty foot spots so they can land in narrow dry riverbeds with large rocks strewn all over the place and fields filled with seven foot high corn.
It is not known if the pilots in the tandem accident mentioned above were aggressively pushing out, trying to climb back up to the tug. However, it is reasonably certain that this is what happened in a fatal aerotowing accident a couple of years ago.
It wasn't quite a couple of years ago - it was seventeen months before this stupid "accident" report of yours.
Luen Miller - 1996/10
We have two more fatalities because of a glider that couldn't be released from tow.
Great job:
- getting good information out to the pilot community.
- condemning the Wallaby article in no uncertain terms.
There are a couple of fundamental issues when a pilot pushes out aggressively in an attempt to climb up to a tug. From physics...
Physics? Since when does USHGA do physics?
...we know that to increase a glider's climb rate, the force taking it upward (lift) must be increased. Basic aerodynamics states that if lift is increased, drag will increase. More drag means the towline tension will increase. If you remember last month's discussion about weak links, we discussed briefly how aerotowing employs a reasonably constant speed, the tug's airspeed, and consequently line tension varies dramatically in response to pilot input, wind, thermals, etc. So, when aero-towing, if a pilot pushes out he will increase line tension. This increases the potential for breaking the weak link.
Yeah. Especially since none of you shitheads knows what a weak link is and you always try to get it as close as possible to normal smooth air tow tension without considering the fact that the line tension varies dramatically in response to pilot input, wind, thermals, etc. and the possibility of any downsides WHEN the goddam thing blows when any of this crap is going on.
Remember that this does not occur with most surface-based towing employing tension-control systems. With these systems the speed of the tow system (vehicle speed, winch speed, etc.) will change dramatically in response to pilot input, wind, etc., and weak links will generally not break.
A weak link is the focal point of a safe towing system.
And thus your primary defense against lockouts is almost completely useless and the safety of your towing system has no focal point. You really oughta outlaw tension controlled surface based towing.
When towing -- any form of towing -- if a weak link breaks or release occurs at high tension, the glider may stall if the pilot does not instantly pull the bar in, changing the nose-high attitude (position relative to the horizon) of the glider to an attitude and consequently an angle of attack normal for free flight. Failure to promptly perform this can result in a stall similar to a whip stall.
- Whereas if a weak link break or release occurs at LOW tension, there's no possibility of the glider stalling if the pilot does not instantly pull the bar in.
- Just like there's no possibility of the glider stalling if the pilot does not instantly pull the bar in when he's free flying.
- Just like there's no possibility of the glider stalling if the pilot DOES instantly pull the bar in under any circumstances.
- And OBVIOUSLY if the pitch attitude is low the angle of attack will also be plenty low enough for normal free flight.
- Who ever heard of a glider with its nose down plummeting in a whipstall to a fatal impact?
- But even if you fail to stuff the bar promptly the resulting stall will only be SIMILAR to a whipstall. It can't actually BE a whipstall so your chances will be a little better.
- Did you READ what you just WROTE about Jamie and Frank? They blew tow at below weak link and probably not that much over normal tension and you don't think there was two pairs of hands instantly stuffing the bar for all they were worth all the way to five feet before impact? What do you think they could have done better after the onset of the lockout?
- Asshole.
So, pushing out increases aerotow line tension and increases the probability of a weak link break.
And ya know what DECREASES the probability of a weak link break? A heavier weak link. But...
Towing Aloft - 1998/01
In any case, remember: aerotowing requires a much lighter weak link than surface towing.
It's REQUIRED. It's IN THE BOOK. So what are ya gonna do?
In addition, the pilot must remember to immediately and aggressively pull the nose of the glider down to avoid a potential stall after a sudden loss of high tow tension. At altitude these are minor issues. However, at fifty feet above the ground the risks should be obvious.
http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3648
Oh no! more on weak links
Carlos Weill - 2008/11/30 19:24:09 UTC
The tug weak link broke off at 1000ft, in less than a second the glider was at 500ft.
A second hazard with the "push out" advice is that the glider actually can stall in some unique situations.
But, of course, NEVER in normal situations.
Recall that near the ground there can be significant wind gradients. These may be as much as 10 mph or more above just 50 to 75 feet. Tow operations generally commence into the wind, so a tug that is substantially higher than a glider may be in significantly stronger winds. If the tug flies slowly, the lower glider could stall if the pilot pushes out aggressively.
Yes. So why is the goddam tug higher than the glider at fifty to seventy-five feet?
Gliders with higher stall speeds, such as a heavily loaded tandem glider, might stall if the pilot pushes out.
- Does a heavily loaded tandem glider stall at a higher speed than a heavily loaded solo glider?
- ANY glider can stall:
-- if the pilot:
--- pushes out
--- doesn't push out
-- with the bar stuffed
Dennis Pagen - 2005/01
Soon after lift-off the trike tug and I were hit by the mother of all thermals. Since I was much lighter, I rocketed up well above the tug, while the very experienced tug pilot, Neal Harris, said he was also lifted more than he had ever been in his heavy trike. I pulled in all the way, but could see that I wasn't going to come down unless something changed. I hung on and resisted the tendency to roll to the side with as strong a roll input as I could, given that the bar was at my knees. I didn't want to release, because I was so close to the ground and I knew that the glider would be in a compromised attitude. In addition, there were hangars and trees on the left, which is the way the glider was tending. By the time we gained about sixty feet I could no longer hold the glider centered - I was probably at a 20-degree bank - so I quickly released before the lockout to the side progressed. The glider instantly whipped to the side in a wingover maneuver. I cleared the buildings, but came very close to the ground at the bottom of the wingover. I leveled out and landed.
See that, Bill? His normally loaded solo glider gets hit, he stuffs the bar, he has to terminate the tow with his shitrigged release, he goes down like a brick with the bar stuffed before lucking out and leveling off at ten feet.
Remember, stalls are associated with angle of attack. It is true that in a glider angle of attack relates to airspeed, hence stalls in a glider relate to airspeed.
No. Angle of attack doesn't RELATE to airspeed - angle of attack TRANSLATES to airspeed. You know the angle of attack, you know the airspeed.
However, when a glider is under tow the rules change, since it has power pulling it through the air and stalls can occur at higher airspeeds with extreme angles of attack.
Because of the above-mentioned risks, many aerotow operations instruct students to NOT push out.
But perish the thought that USHGA should standardize procedures based on physics 'cause opinion is the only thing that keeps gliders airborne in the first place.
If low, pilots should ease the bar out to trim position but not push out past trim.
'Cause as long as that bar's no farther out than trim position there's just no possible way you can stall if you lose the tow.
The vast majority of the time, easing the bar out is all a pilot ever needs to do.
Yeah, let's gear our procedures - as well as our equipment - for what happens the vast majority of the time.
The tug pilots are similarly instructed to always come down to a low glider.
- Really?
http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467
weak links
Jim Rooney - 2007/08/01 13:47:23 UTC
Whatever's going on back there, I can fix it by giving you the rope.
I thought all these assholes were instructed by other assholes that there's no problem going on back there that can't be fixed by "giving" the glider the rope.
- Somehow the drivers for Bill and Mike, Jamie and Frank, T.B., and Arlan and Jeremiah don't seem to have gotten the word.
I have found through empirical tests (done at high altitude) -- and a highly experienced instructor with over 3,000 tandem aerotows confirms -- that there are situations in which no amount of push-out will bring the glider back up to the tug.
Really. You geniuses figured out that a mostly stalled glider tends not to climb even when you try to stall it a little more?
The only remedy is releasing or having the tug pilot speed up and come down to the glider.
How many of those remedies are routinely survivable below three hundred feet?
Interestingly, some aerotow operations also instruct students to fly a little high behind the tug if they want the tug to slow down a bit and climb more aggressively.
You actually found signs of mildly intelligent life at aerotow operations? Which ones?
Any chance we could extend that to the flip side? Any chance some aerotow operations could also instruct students to fly a little fast and low behind the tug when they want the dumb sonuvabitch to dive, speed up, and start doing his fuckin' job so they don't hafta risk stalling to compensate for his incompetence?
Don't you think mention of the flip side is pretty conspicuously absent from this discussion?
The glider follows the tug, but in a sense, the tug also follows the glider. This places more responsibility and the need for glider awareness on the tug pilot, but generally results in easier lower-anxiety tows for the glider pilot.
That sentence needs some work. Lemme fix it for you...
This places more responsibility and the need for glider awareness on the tug driver - WHERE IN SHOULD BE 'CAUSE YOU'RE PAYING THIS ASSHOLE TO DO A JOB - *AND* ALWAYS results in easier, lower-anxiety, safer, more efficient tows for the glider pilot.
Some pilots will criticize this admonishment about the push-out advice and point to their record of success with it.
NO. PILOTS don't criticize this approach - just asshole tug drivers and flight park operators.
Indeed, they probably have been successful.
Sure - if you measure success the way flight parks do by counting five hundred foot plummets as successful tows when the glider has enough starting altitude to survive and only count the kills as temporary setbacks.
In addition, debate is healthy for the sport and I welcome it...
No you don't - motherfucker. When you get called on something that you can't answer without revealing yourself to be the idiot you are you just slink away from the conversation 'cause you know the vast majority of the clones who constitute this sport will let you get away with it.
...since I always learn from a good disagreement and discussion.
- Sure you do, Bill. You learn that if six different flight parks have twelve different opinions on which way is up you include all of them in different chapters of your book to make EVERYBODY happy.
- There's NOTHING in this game that needs DEBATING. This is all Newtonian physics and the debating is only done by people who don't and usually can't understanding it.
However, operations that preach against pushing out if low can point to remarkable success.
And Russian roulette players average remarkable first round success records. A bit over 83 percent.
And there are two pilots (not the ones above), I know in my heart might well be alive if they had shunned the push-out advice.
- Bill Bennett and Mike Del Signore.
- This game has gotta be about brains - not hearts. It's out of your league.
- WOULD be alive.
- It had very little to do with advice and a lot to do with instinctive response and an expectation of tug driver competence.
- How dead would they be if Dave Farkas had gotten the goddam tug down to where it was supposed to be?
Incident data clearly indicate that the first 200 feet of tow are most critical.
You mean the higher off the surface the glider is the less likely it is to smash into it? Yeah, for some reason I can't quite nail down that seems to be the trend in several aviation disciplines.
Pilots and tug pilots must have predetermined emergency plans and pilots must know exactly what their best option is for the most likely incidents during the tow and flight.
How 'bout this idea... Don't do anything stupid under two hundred feet 'cause the options for survival that low may not be all that great no matter what you plan to do before the glider starts flying again.
And note that if you're taking off with no ribbons and wheels and using a Quallaby and/or Bailey Release and...
For aerotowing operations, a weak link breaking strength equal to 80 to 100% of the total flying weight--the weight of the pilot and glider--is a reasonable starting point.
...a weak link that breaks between 80 and 100 percent of your total flying weight you've already done four or five stupid things before you've put the glider on the cart.
And when you hook up behind an asshole driving the tug you've done another but that's one that's pretty universal so ya just gotta hope that that factor only comes into play during someone else's tow - preferably Davis's.
Tandem instructors must be exceptionally vigilant and intolerant of even minor student control errors during the first 200 feet, aggressively correcting these.
Right.
If you're a Wallaby instructor and your student is low and just easing out to trim...
...you may have to push out hard to get back up. Do not be afraid to do this. You will climb, not stall.
If you're a Quest instructor and your student is starting to oscillate as a consequence of his roll corrections then just correct them more aggressively.
Tug pilots must be trained and instructed to promptly come down to low gliders...
- Didn't you just tell us that they're already instructed to do that?
- If they're clueless enough to outclimb the glider to begin with, how well does that bode for the expectation that they're gonna come back down?
...whose pilots should not aggressively push out.
These are words of advice familiar to many ears around the country. Unfortunately there are some ears that haven't heard this advice. Please share it with them.
Why not just have them read your book?
Towing Aloft - 1998/01
The words of wisdom regarding pitch control: "use whatever it takes to stay in position."
Yep. Use whatever it takes to stay in position. And don't worry about getting killed in the process.
Towing Aloft - 1998/01
Correcting Vertical Position Under Tow
- It is primarily the hang glider pilot's responsibility to remain in the correct position in relation to the tug. To do this, concentrate on the tug and maintain the proper relation to the horizon. Also feel the tow pressure and anticipate the changes.
- If you are too high or the pressure increases, pull in rapidly to dive. Stop the dive before you reach the ideal position by easing the bar out. Anticipate the possibility of overshooting; meet the tug at the horizon.
- If you are too low or the pressure decreases, let the bar out and anticipate the overshooting effect by pulling back in before you reach the ideal position. When you let the bar out to climb, it will be much further forward with a two-point bridle than in free flight. You will then often find the glider doesn't react right away, especially if you are in the down wash. Be patient and maintain minimum controllable flying speed for roll corrections.
- It is better to be a bit too high than too low.
It is primarily the hang glider pilot's responsibility to remain in the correct position in relation to the tug.
- The primary responsibility of both drivers is to protect their own planes.
- The secondary responsibility of both drivers is to not endanger the other plane.
- It's more the tug's responsibility to not endanger the glider than it is the glider's responsibility to not endanger the tug 'cause...
-- It's a LOT easier for the tug to kill the glider than it is for the glider to kill the tug.
-- The tug pilot is also acting as a copilot of the glider and managing the degree and alignment of its thrust.
-- The tug is typically being paid to do the job.
-- The tug typically has a zillion times more tow experience than the glider.
-- The tug's the plane with the engine.
-- If the tug's a Dragonfly he's got a zillion times the control authority of the glider.
-- The tug is ALWAYS better off without the glider and the glider is almost always worse off - occasionally dead - without the tug.
Two things you can't use in aviation: altitude above you and runway behind you.
- It's always possible for any plane to go down. In fact it's a one hundred percent certainty that it eventually WILL.
- It's never possible for a glider to go up very much without help.
- It's a lot harder for a tug to go up than down.
- Thus the responsibility to keep the planes level ALWAYS rests with the high one.
Also feel the tow pressure and anticipate the changes.
Right - PRESSURE.
If you are too low or the pressure decreases...
- YOU are NEVER too low. The problem is that the tug's too high and/or slow 'cause there's an idiot driving it.
...let the bar out...
- If you let the bar out...
-- you're:
--- reducing your already crappy control authority
--- greatly increasing your ever present vulnerability to a lockout
--- setting yourself up for a stall and making yourself extremely dependent upon sustained tow tension
--- trying to do the tug driver's job for him
--- sending a signal to an idiot that he's doing fine and doesn't need to adjust his speed and altitude
-- aforementioned idiot is likely to respond to the compliment you just sent him by getting even higher and slower
- DO NOT - repeat - DO NOT EVER let the bar out to try to compensate for a high and/or slow tug. Pull in, pull his tail down, let him know that he's either gotta start doing his job or cut you loose or you're gonna stall his ass.
Asterisks...
The above assumes that the planes aren't getting blown up and down by thermals and sink. So yeah, if the tug rockets up in front of you and you have good speed then climb a bit. But don't go nuts 'cause you'll be blasted up yourself in another five seconds - by which time the tug will be back in sink.
Et cetera.
When you let the bar out to climb, it will be much further forward with a two-point bridle than in free flight.
Bullshit. If the glider's trimmed properly the positioning of the basetube with respect to the pilot will be about the same. Because of the mostly forward tension the glider will be pitched up more - but so will you.
You will then often find the glider doesn't react right away, especially if you are in the down wash.
- If you're low and slow in the downwash with the glider not reacting you might wanna consider just how much it's worth it to you to "let the bar out to 'climb'" and attempt to continue the tow.
- As a matter of fact you shoulda done that a long time before you got in that situation.
- And exactly how did you get in that situation anyway? Maybe it's time to open up a new can of tug drivers.
Be patient and maintain minimum controllable flying speed for roll corrections.
- Yeah. Do that. And always maintain the faith that:
-- the weak links at both ends will hold;
-- the Rotax won't start conforming to Murphy's Law;
-- the tug driver won't make a good decision in the interest of your safety; and
-- Mother Nature won't throw in a little something extra just to make things a little more interesting.
- And if you're friends with the tug driver don't worry about his career or reputation. You can rest assured that the USHGA report - if they bother to publish it at all - will protect his identity and spend half a dozen paragraphs talking all about how the glider got low on the tug.
It is better to be a bit too high than too low.
- But it's also cool to be low and slow in the downwash with an unresponsive glider and the bar let out and patiently wait to climb.
http://ozreport.com/8.190
Hang Glide Chicago
Davis Straub - 2004/09/16
Arlan wanted me to keep the wheels of the Kolb a plane height above the horizon.
- Except at Hang Glide Chicago.
