I had the exact same thing happen to me on the first tow of my first SIV. The weak link was connected incorrectly which ultimately caused the hook on the tow bridle to catch. I even had a hook knife but for some reason didn’t even consider it. I radioed back to my instructor that it wouldn’t release and he immediately had the tow/boat operator drop all tension in the line which allowed me some time to sort the situation out. He then instructed me to pull the tow bridle up and disconnect the tow bridle hook from the weak link manually which did the trick, but was certainly a bit more exciting than I expected my first tow to be haha. Well done solving the problem!
On my very first tow ever 2 weeks ago the release mechanism string got caught on a bootlace hook and prevented release. It was 1-2 seconds of horror,1-2 seconds of denial, 3-4 seconds of sorting out the problem. Cutting was considered.
You should have had your hands up to the pulleys unless adding directional control. By having so much break input in during the tow you created excessive drag on the wing which led to the overload.
It's kind of sad no one noticed real cause line had to be cut: The line was attached to tow bridle without any carabiner, using a self-tightening loop knot. Look closely at 0:16 - 0:17 (if on PC you can use < and > to move frame by frame), you can see the knot slipping and locking the blue part of tow bridle. So this tow bridle from GIN is totally OK, any other bridle would fail to release if it was attached this way. This could be totally avoided with proper towing equipment. Good reaction on the side of the pilot though! (Lesson of having a hook knife ready to use is still 100% valid IMO)
You're absolutely right. The tow line loop was a slipknot so it tightened down immediately on the blue part of the bridle. I don't use a carabiner (because I don't want my teeth knocked out) but I am careful to use a non-slip knot, such as double figure 8.
You did really well, that was a shit tow, the winch is grabbing, really not smooth at all, and assuming you are learning was a terrible environment to learn to tow. A few recommendations; - Get a push to talk radio (PTT) for communications, this allows much easier/better communication with the driver (more/less tension, drive faster/slower). - Go a little lighter on the brakes. - The tow bridle you are using is majorly outdated. I really think you did super well under the circumstances, kept calm, and sorted the issue, well done! I do think the winch needs a service. That rocking is not from turbulence, it is the brakes catching and releasing. Hopefully, a year on and things are better. Blue Skies!
@@asksteevs Anything with dual release (hand & foot) release. I have a local rigger that makes them however he had gotten out of the sport/rigging. I'm really not up to date with the latest. But speed system bridle connections is a thing of the past and no foot release are the main things from memory. You did really well, hopefully, you are still enjoying the skies. Take care.
That probably could have been mitigated with a little bit of time and some hard pulls. But you cut it super fast and where it should have been, good job. Also, try to not be wrapped in the brakes next time, pulling them down that far could make you stall. Just throwing that all out there.
Some friendly advice for towing paragliders: don't look at the wing. You can take one glance to make sure the lines are sorted and then don't look at it again. Your focus needs to be on the horizon and tow line. Looking at the wing does nothing for you and it distracts/disorients, especially while under tow where the wing is much further back than in regular flight
One way to make sure you don't need to look at the wing, is to put one leg over the tow line. That way you can feel the orientation of the wing wrt. the line.
Also a friendly advice from here: always test the release mechanism as standard safety check procedure. You might catch a malfunction there and then, skipping all the “exciting” part when you encur on it in flight 😅
I had a similar situation. The tow rope was attached to the release system with a carabiner. During towing, this carabiner unbent and, like a hook, caught on the trousers in the lower leg area. So much so that he was not visible. I accidentally saw it and managed to unhook it before the cable was pulled.
You used to much breaks. It is not needed, since you already have tension of towing. Better to use body shifting and only if you are trown to the side to much, you should use break to adjust. Wing was under to much pressure. Also the angle is to big. He could have left you a bit behind, letting more line out and with less tension. When you enter termals while towing, wing has more space to fly. Like this, line under tension doesn't give you space needed.
Too thermic because of the road. You were going in for a lockout at many points on launch. I have had similar experience but did not cut and it was also very thermic and bumpy ride somewhat like yours. I think this was not the right time of the day to winch as majority concentration goes on controlling the wing. But anyways, nice cut.
good observation... the glider is a MacPara Charger (A wing with reflex mostly intended for PPG) with quite a bit of brake travel, the first few inches just take out the slack. ..but yeah prolly a tad too much brake 🤷♂ ..those were my early days
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It's this one superflyinc.com/products/tow-bridle Hooking up with the speed system isn't really required for a low wing (like the one I was flying at that time, but recommended for higher wings (some C, D and above gliders)
@@aamm110 cheaper to replace the risers than all the lines, in case of a bad twist or glider interfering with reserve or landing on moving water, and faster than cut line by line. That's what I was told during training in Australia.
JOSE VEGA I see... I think trying to cut the riser near where it connects to the carabiner (the thicker part) might be harder with this hook knife (superflyinc.com/products/jack-the-ripper-hook-knife), but the individual risers (e.g. A,B,..) should be an easy cut
No, this was 3 years ago. They have this event every year (see flycuervo.com/lonestar.cfm ). If you are looking for mountain flying, closest sites to Houston are about a 7hour drive, see buffalomountainflyers.org/
It's been quite a while... Initially yes there was still tension, the tow operator released the pressure I assume as I could pull up the line a bit to try untangle it before cutting it.
@@aamm110 Be careful ! Remember that your wing should NOT be towed with a force more than 100NM that is 100 Kilo grams ! That shaking is due a "over pull". The wing creates a rolling wave in front of leading edge.
You are supposed to do gentle S turns and lay down the line until back on the ground - basic tow training for failed release. Shame you cut the line. Good job it wasn't steel line....
nah, the pre-tow instructions were to cut the line if sth like this happened, if not possible then do S turns along the tow path to land near the truck. Tying a new loop to the end of a dyneema line isn't a big deal. No one in their sane mind would tow paragliders on a steel line!!
