On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 5:09 PM, stephenk <steph...@internode.on.net> wrote:
> Three breaks when I was at the back end of the rope out of ca 850 launches. > One on the ground taking up slack, one at 200ft and one at 1400ft. The > latter two on the same day on different ropes with different students (four > flights apart) at a weeklong course in 1986. > > Zero breaks (so far) when at the front end of the rope out of ca 700 > launches. > > I have had three unintended separations from the tug in 2000+ aerotows. In each case it was due to a faulty tow hook at the tug end. Two happened at over 1000' and were of course no problem but one happened just short of the fence when departing glider 10 at Camden. I was in the back seat of a K7 giving a visitor an "AEF". There was no chance of landing ahead before the fence nor yet of clearing the trees and river. A turn to starboard seemed the best bet with some open space between some bushes although there were a number of concrete tie down blocks (Ex WW II ?) scattered about. After turning through 90 deg I could see that the inboard tip was well clear of the ground and I completed a 180 to land back the way I had come. The rope was draped over the wing and tailplane. The passenger seemed quite unconcerned! Winch launch failures are much more common may be as 2% but you should always have somewhere to land. Does anyone on the list have any good statistics on winch launch failures in Australia? cheers, Ken
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