We learn about them and hope to never see one, but one unlucky pilot experienced one just recently. Started off by being too low on tow and not correcting fast enough. The prop wash kicked the glider around a bit and when the lockout was starting to happen, the release was never pulled resulting in a full lockout and then the weaklink broke.
From the pilot in the video:
Firstly, as it was my first aerotow without an instructor present and my first aerotow in 12 months since the aerotow course, I probably should have had a tow in calm conditions early morning or in the evening to familiarise myself again.
Secondly, as I had watched 2 weaklinks break before me, I made a bad decision to strengthen mine from the standard 1G to 1.5G. As you might have guessed, I changed it back for the next tow.
Thirdly, because there was a ground marshall with a radio, I for some reason deliberately chose not to lock-on my radio during the tow. My radio PTT switch is on my left shoulder and I have to take a hand off the control bar in order to operate it. Things got busy very quickly and I didn't get to communicate with the tug pilot(who didn't see what happened to me) when I needed to.
However, my main problem, which no one has alluded to because it is not obvious from the camera angle, is that when I wanted to release I couldn't see the release line.
The release was tied high on my right shoulder strap and in theory all I had to do if I couldn't see it was to locate it by feel and pull it. However in such a situation (and I have gone over the video which was filmed in 30 frames per sec), things were happening literally frame by frame, there is no time to work out whether the release is on the right shoulder or the left shoulder and then start feeling for it.
I didn't end up releasing before the (previously strengthened) weak link broke.
My towing inexperience caused me some indecision when the trike rose quickly in a thermal. This doesn't seem to show well on the video, but I remember the trike shooting up above my horizon reference. My indecision was because in all my previous tows it has been an effort in my slow glider to stay down at the tug level and not get above it, being below it was a novelty...forgot all about propwash.
As I watched 2 other pilots being towed up before my next tow, I also remembered the short positive weight shift inputs that I had been taught but had also forgotten about on that tow.
The glider had popped no.3 + no.4 batten tips on both sides and both no.2 +no.3 undersurface battens had come out on both sides... so I guess the wing had been working hard.
The next tow was good and at all times I knew exactly where the tow release was!!
3 окт 2024
