Well, you did by most release manufacturers' standards.
Don't you think the terms "release", "manufacturers", and "standards" are all a bit over-dignified?
The problems I've had are completely mysterious to me.
Yeah, me too. That's why I stay away from it.
Ya run cable to a spinnaker shackle - it works some of the time.
Ya run leechline - like God and Wichard intended - it works ALL of the time.
I know this is supposed to be:
A forum devoted to the scientific advancement of hang gliding
but I'm afraid that's about the point at which my curiosity into the subject starts fading fast.
With line, changes in direction ceased being a problem with the invention of the pulley. If I pull on one end of a string I know what's coming out the other. And by configuring pulleys into a block and tackle system I can EASILY boost mechanical advantage to whatever the hell I want. Just like the VG system on your Sport 2 - you pull 20 pounds on your string, the cross spars junction is going backwards under 140 pounds of force, with very negligible loss due to friction.
...it has been 'tested' many times under realistic tow tensions counts for a lot...
The Bailey Release works fine under realistic tow tensions - mostly when you don't really need it to. It's when the situation gets unreal that we need to do the most worrying (which we were to begin with anyway).
...it's been tested infinitely better than any release I build...
The ONLY thing you really need to worry about is running a string through a downtube. Get that right and I KNOW what the upper assembly WILL DO when you pull x pounds on the string.
...such as securing ... the upper assembly...
Alright, I lied. You need to anchor the assembly. What I did on Hugh's U2 - which, for the purposes of this discussion, is the same as your Sport 2 - was replace the kingpost base bracket bolt with a slightly longer one and install a tang (Wills Wing 20E-2206 will work).
...such as ... tensioning the upper assembly...
Easy. Just put a loop of leechline around the noseplate bolts under the keel, engage it with with the Tensioner. Then adjust the Tensioner length to "tight" - not at all critical. (And it's only really important in a slack line situation - which I and all but a microscopic percentage of aerotowers have never experienced.)
What addresses the friction/abrasion between the string and the drilled hole...
The hole drilling is a bit critical. You punch the spot and drill through with the smallest bit available. Then you go with successive sizes up enlarging and angling to arrive at a final eighth inch hole slanted upwards and outwards.
The lanyard feeds out through an eighth inch OD length of nylon tubing - friction fit, low internal friction, eliminates abrasion issues.
Yes, that was what I had in mind.
You don't hafta be doing any of that sort of thing beyond drilling the hole (but I hope you'll eventually give some of this a shot - it ain't brain surgery).
...so I feel it needs to be tested.
Just about all of this stuff is like setting up a glider - it's either together or it's not, the difference is obvious, and it's real hard to eff it up.
Judging from people's reactions to your photos...
He's not "people". Most "people" in this sport need to pay a dealer to replace a safety ring on the end of a bolt.
...you said yourself it's a lot of work to build...
- The internal basetube assembly is a bitch. We're not gonna be doing that and it's not even a particularly good idea for the batch of models of which your kite is representative.
- Doing one or two of something is absolute hell. But when you get a production line going...
- Wills Wing is gonna hafta develop a machined core mechanism. No company is gonna be doing the tedious needle and thread work I do. The poor bastard who got stuck with that job would be legally blind in two to three weeks max. A scaled down spinnaker shackle designed to hold tiny diameter line and release under high load would do the trick fine.
(The spinnaker shackle is designed to hold huge diameter line and HOLD huge loads but only RELEASE relatively light loads. And it's got that gate with all those weak link snagging and chewing features. But you CAN use it safely enough if you use some common sense with the configuration. I wouldn't tell someone I liked not to fly it.)
Maybe showing him something easy to implement initially will have more of an impact.
He'll know EXACTLY what he's looking at in the photos and instantly start thinking about how to implement it - even if he doesn't plan to.
Which is precisely why I'm reluctant.
If you've survived the AT culture crap you have so far nothing will kill you.
Thanks for the explanations, Tad. It does indeed sound a lot more involved than just 'drilling a hole', but I have a much better idea of what's involved now. I may return to this topic in a few months...
Zack C wrote:I've measured my Lookout release at 4 lbs of actuation force with no load and 16 lbs with an 85 lb load (which, I might add, is much worse than what they reported on my repaired release (12 @ 130))
!!! L/A ratio = 5 !!? if this measure is real, please stop to use it !
With a 250lb wl on top you can have 50lb actuation effort !!
Joe Street L/A ratio is 15.
About LMFP release, some mails..
I'm waiting for the release.
Hi Antoine
We received your last email. We did over 1000 test releases at full weak link value (required 12 pounds of pressure to pull the release at max weak link value) and at 150 pounds over the weak link value with success. Most of the time any problems with the release are because the cable housing has pulled out of the release body because of the way the release was mounted. This leads to a premature release because the cable is now too short.
If you are having a problem getting the release to release, we would like to get it back so that we can figure out why. We will test it at 450 pounds. We can then replace yours.
Please send the primary back to the following address:
Antoine-
I wanted to add some more information to my last email. The tow mast on our Dragonfly breaks below 400 pounds. We use 2 130 pound weak links, so we test at 300 pounds of tension. If you would like to send back your release, we can test, do any modification necessary, and let you know how many pounds of pressure it takes to release at a 300 pound load. Also, if you are primarily using for tandems, we can make a more heavy duty version. And, again let you know how many pounds of pressure it takes to release at a 300 pound load.
Let us know what you think...
Smooth Winds,
Jen Richards
Hi Antoine-
We have received your primary release. We are waiting for a new batch of barrels. Then we will replace the barrel, test, and send back to you.
With a 250lb wl on top you can have 50lb actuation effort !!
I should've picked up on that. Good catch.
Joe Street L/A ratio is 15.
And yet the price is a fraction. Go figure.
...at full weak link value...
Which is WHAT?
...required 12 pounds of pressure to pull the release...
Yes. Pressure.
...because of the way the release was mounted.
Sounds like...
There is no product liability insurance covering this gear and we do not warrant this gear as suitable for towing anything.
...people are totally disregarding the information in the owner's manual and mounting them on hang gliders.
We will test it at 450 pounds.
Direct or towline?
We can then replace yours.
OR... You could hunt around the shop real hard until you find something you think may actually WORK and send that to him in exchange for the piece of junk you sold him so...
We are confident that with an ultimate load of 130 pounds at the release point, the new GT aerotow release works better than all cable releases that we have experience with.
...he's got something to fly - which is what he thought he was getting when he paid you bastards in the first place.
The tow mast on our Dragonfly breaks below 400 pounds.
- Direct or towline?
- Did you actually test that?
- GREAT!!! What's it break ABOVE?
- GREAT!!! So if I tow at one and a half Gs at no less than eighty pounds below my weak link I get the towline AND the Dragonfly tow mast! I can hardly wait!
- This sounds like Matt's regurgitating what he got from me when I made the mistake of going down there two and a half years ago.
We use 2 130 pound weak links, so we test at 300 pounds of tension.
Oh! So a double loop of 130 blows at three hundred? And that's what you're basing your claims for release performance on? Funny, I usually get around two hundred.
If you would like to send back your release, we can test, do any modification necessary...
What modification? Aren't these releases that you've been spewing out all over a continent or two carbon copies of each other? Why modify his to get it to work and not everyone else's as well?
...and let you know how many pounds of pressure it takes to release at a 300 pound load.
Direct or towline?
Also, if you are primarily using for tandems, we can make a more heavy duty version.
How come Joe Street seems to be able to put out a release based upon a two and a half dollar parachute pin that handles solo and tandem just fine?
Let us know what you think...
Yes, Antoine, please do.
Smooth Winds,
Jen Richards
And for the love of God don't even think about flying it in thermal conditions. Make sure you read and fully understand the smooth winds clause in the owner's manual.
Then we will replace the barrel, test, and send back to you.
And how long has it been since you started this process? At least four months.
deltaman wrote:!!! L/A ratio = 5 !!? if this measure are real, please stop to use it !
With a 250lb wl on top you can have 50lb actuation effort !!
Joe Street L/A ratio is 15
Yeah, I've had to pull the loop twice sometimes...and that's with the newer release I exchanged my old one for last July.
And I recently learned one of our guys using a Lookout release (I think the only one who uses one besides me) had an in-flight failure of his. Don't know the details but something broke and it no longer released. He contacted Lookout and they said there was a bad production run having that problem and offered to replace it.
Great record these things have...
I'm planning to use the Joe Street release going forward and tow one-point if I'm flying a different glider.
Tad Eareckson wrote:Oh! So a double loop of 130 blows at three hundred?
Yeah, that left me scratching my head. Most people who haven't tested it think it's 260...
We have returned you primary aerotow release with a steel barrel which will hold up better to higher loads during tandem flying. Enclosed is also a card what shows the test pressure required to actuate your release 13-15 lbs (value of the weak link we recommend). The primary also released successfully at 18-20 lbs at 200 lbs
In further testing of the release, we have discovered that the compact design of this release requires the use of a specific sized weak link. That weak link value should be at 130-150 pounds depending on pilot weight. Because of the compact design, (Note) weak link can not exceed 1/8" in diameter or else the pull pressure to activate the release will become very high. We recommend the green stripe 130-pound test tournament fishing line by Cortland. This release design has been extensively tested using this weak link line. We have made revisions in our manual detailing this finding.
As the tow forces increase, expect the release to require more force to actuate and release the tow line. Pulling in reduces the tow pressure making it easier to actuate the release. This will also prolong the life of your weak link. A sharp, forceful pull on the release handle works best.
Note: A sharp pull on the release handle works best and pulling in prior to releasing reduces the line tension thereby reducing release actuation force.
Note: If you choose to fly with this release without a weak link (not recommended) please ensure that you connect with an 1/8" (diameter) or smaller line (spectra line has a test line of 1250 lbs and can easily be attached to the end of the tow line if you opt not to use a weak link).
Please read the manual. Please let us know if you have and questions or need help.
And now for the fun part. (If this isn't as much fun reading as it was writing just skip to the end and restart at "Ooh!!!" (I had a late thought that paid off bigtime.))
We have returned you primary aerotow release with a steel barrel which will hold up better to higher loads during tandem flying.
Oh, really.
- So do you have any idea what tandem loads actually are? Just kidding.
- How 'bout solo loads? Ever measured any? Just kidding.
- Let's make a solo glider 320 pounds, add 200 to make it a tandem, and assume a proportional increase in normal tow tension range. For solo we'll use 125 pounds as normal tension (what you in the hang gliding industry would refer to as pressure) and get 203 - call it 200. It's gotta be a lot less than that 'cause tandems climb a lot slower than solos - and the 914 Dragonfly yields only an extra thirty pounds of tension with the turbocharger kicked in - but I don't have any field data 'cause for a couple of seasons none of the assholes at Ridgely ever seemed to have the time - or interest - to take me up for a four hundred foot hop to get an actual number. But let's go with 200.
So a two point release is centering around feeling 72 solo and 115 tandem and yours is such a piece o' crap that it needs modification to reliably handle an extra 43 pounds? (That sentence works pretty well with or without the question mark.)
- In other words, the aluminum barrel made your piece o' crap even more of a piece o' crap. I use an aluminum barrel on my two and a half dollar parachute pin based release and I can blow 400 pounds of direct loading with a twenty pound pull.
- Have you put out any advisories or sent out recall notices to owners so that nobody with an aluminum barrel gets killed? Just kidding.
- But this is all really Antoine's fault for using your release - designed for solo towing - in his tandem operation. Right?
Enclosed is also a card what shows the test pressure required to actuate your release 13-15 lbs (value of the weak link we recommend).
- Yes - pressure.
- Yeah, if I were selling a piece o' crap like that I'd be recommending a half G weak link too.
The primary also released successfully at 18-20 lbs at 200 lbs
- As opposed to releasing unsuccessfully.
- You sound very proud of this result. How surprised were you?
- When you ran these successful test were you pulling on the loop at the end of the cable with bends conforming to the configuration on the glider? Or were you just pulling directly on the mechanism itself? I'm guessing the latter 'cause you didn't specify the former.
- That's odd. In your owner's manual - currently and as originally printed with respect to the release with the aluminum barrel - you cite a 16 pound pull for a 220 pound direct load. And now you're saying that it takes two to four pounds MORE pull for twenty pounds LESS tension? I'da thunk that what with all the lockups being reported you'd have tried to make it EASIER to actuate.
- A Wichard 2470 spinnaker shackle blows two hundred with a pull of under twelve and a half pounds. And when I use it in conjunction with a leechline lanyard - the way things SHOULD be rigged - I can use a pulley system to double the mechanical advantage. Really great the way you've managed to advance the technology.
- My barrel release blows twice your two hundred figure (that would be four hundred if you're having trouble with the math) at a bit under twenty.
In further testing of the release, we have discovered that the compact design of this release requires the use of a specific sized weak link.
- Yeah? When and how did "you" discover this?
- And how badly was your unwitting test pilot injured?
- In FURTHER testing of the "release"? What the fuck were you testing it for BEFORE you started putting it in the air and shipping it out? Marketability?
- How many of these pieces o' crap did you bastards ship out before the "further testing" testing of this "release" revealed that it requires the use of a specific sized weak link?
- Have you put out any advisories or sent out notices to owners to inform people of the further testing of the release in which you discovered that the compact design of this release requires the use of a specific sized weak link? Just kidding.
- Compact design my ass. It isn't compact and it wasn't designed. It's a short, fat, bent piece of junk that doesn't work worth shit. Wanna see a two point release that IS compact and WAS designed?
- What's the point in having an alleged "compact design" release mechanism when you have all that cable crap velcroed to and running from the control frame out in the airflow?
- What else does this anemic piece o' crap REQUIRE?
With each flight, demonstrates a method of soaking the release mechanism with WD-40 just prior to launch.
Gonna get that into the USHGA aerotowing SOPs?
That weak link value should be at 130-150 pounds depending on pilot weight.
- So the weak link value has absolutely nothing to do with glider capacity or even glider flying weight - just pilot weight.
- Any chance of you telling us the pilot weight break point between the two weak links? Just kidding.
- When I was down at your shit operation early in the 2009 season you had 130 and *200* pound Greenspot at the flight line for "lighter and heavier pilots". So now you've decided that it's unsafe for "heavier pilots" to use 200? 'Cause your piece o' crap can't handle 200? (Rhetorical question.)
- So whereas the previous max allowable towline tension spread between a 165 pound min loaded Falcon 3 145 and a 360 pound max loaded T2 154 was 122 pounds - 57 percent of the flying weight difference - the spread is now a whopping 35 pounds - 16 percent of the flying weight difference.
- In other words the big glider, two and half times the mass of the little glider, is permitted towline tension 1.15 times what the little glider is. Damn, it's lucky for you assholes that hang glider divers are amongst the stupidest forms of animal life known to exist on the planet.
- Any OTHER reasons "that weak link value should be at 130-150 pounds depending on pilot weight"?
- I fly at 320 pounds. A 150 pound weak link puts me at 0.8 Gs. That is NOT a safe weak link - motherfuckers. If I maxed out a T2 154 that would put me well below the FAA minimum for sailplanes.
Because of the compact design, (Note) WEAK LINK CAN NOT EXCEED 1/8" IN DIAMETER OR ELSE THE PULL PRESSURE TO ACTIVATE THE RELEASE WILL BECOME VERY HIGH.
- Yeah, I can think of an even better reason not to exceed eighth inch line. A loop of eighth inch Dacron leechline blows at about five hundred pounds. Based upon your report for 150 it's gonna take a MINIMUM of 45 pounds to blow that - BEFORE you factor in the diameter issue. And generally acceptable maximum allowable actuation pulls are 25.
- Oh. So we're not supposed to go over eighth inch - three millimeters - "because of the compact design". The spinnaker shackle - which puts the load at the pivot point instead of on the gate - will take a fourteen millimeter - over half inch line. But I guess the spinnaker shackle just isn't compact enough to meet the exacting standards of most hang glider pilots.
- Why can't we use 200 pound Greenspot any more? Is its one and a half millimeter diameter just too much for your compact design to handle?
- Have you put out any advisories or sent out notices to owners to inform people that, because of the compact design, THE WEAK LINK CAN NOT EXCEED 1/8" IN DIAMETER OR ELSE THE PULL PRESSURE TO ACTIVATE THE RELEASE WILL BECOME VERY HIGH? Just kidding.
- The pull pressure to activate your goddam "release" is already very high. And under USHGA/FAA aerotow regulations the pull pressure to activate your goddam "release" has gotta be low enough to handle TWICE the weak link. And the weak link is allowed to be TWICE the flying weight of the glider.
We recommend the green stripe 130-pound test tournament fishing line by Cortland.
- There's no such thing as green stripe 130-pound test tournament fishing line by Cortland - you morons.
- WHY do you morons recommend the green stripe 130-pound test tournament fishing line by Cortland? Just kidding.
- What about "heavier pilots"? Didn't you just recommend 150 for them?
This release design has been extensively tested using this weak link line.
Well that's just SUPER!!! And I extensively test the compactly designed flak jackets I sell to the US Army using kids whom I tell to go nuts on paintball courses. From shots fired beyond a range of five yards no injuries requiring more than overnight hospitalization so far (nothing that'll stand up in court anyway).
We have made revisions in our manual detailing this finding.
Well that's just SUPER!!! Do you have your idiot manual up on your sleazy website so the poor stupid bastards who have the earlier edition of your idiot manual they got with your piece o' crap "release" can be made aware of the "DETAILS" of "THIS FINDING"? Just kidding?
As the tow forces increase, expect the release to require more force to actuate and release the tow line.
As far as I know the release tension is independent of the tow tension by virtue of the design--but I'll verify that with Matt.
Well Marc, looks like what you knew was absolutely wrong. What's it feel like to ALWAYS be absolutely wrong about EVERYTHING?
Pulling in reduces the tow pressure making it easier to actuate the release.
In other words...
- It's a real bitch to blow this piece o' crap for a routine scheduled release.
- And in an emergency lockout situation with the tow "pressure" building you're fucked.
This will also prolong the life of your weak link.
Assuming, of course, that the weak link you recommend has survived all the way up to release altitude.
A sharp, forceful pull on the release handle works best.
In other words, its mechanical advantage sucks.
Note: A sharp pull on the release handle works best and pulling in prior to releasing reduces the line tension thereby reducing release actuation force.
What happens if you sharply pull on the stupid release handle when the tow starts getting out of control...
...but your hand just keeps going 'cause the stupid release handle fell out of your hand when you separated from the launch dolly?
Note: If you choose to fly with this release without a weak link (not recommended) please ensure that you connect with an 1/8" (diameter) or smaller line (spectra line has a test line of 1250 lbs and can easily be attached to the end of the tow line if you opt not to use a weak link).
- Oh. You RECOMMEND against your customers flying with this release without a weak link on their solos. But you fly your customers without a weak link on your tandem flights. Why is that, exactly?
- You don't GET to CHOOSE to fly with this release without a weak link. There's a goddam USHGA/FAA regulation that MANDATES that you fly with a goddam weak link. And you gotta carry a goddam FAA card which states that you must adhere to the regulations.
- So you RECOMMEND that the pilot either use a max 150 pound weak link or, if he doesn't fucking feel like it, a Spectra bridle eight and a third times as strong as the weak link - on a "release" which requires "a sharp, forceful pull" under the best of circumstances. Yeah, that makes sense. Use a weak link that routinely blows in the course of a normal tow or a bridle strong enough to overload the release many times over and rip the glider apart. It's that deadly middle ground you gotta avoid like the plague.
Please read the manual.
Fer sure. Lotsa good tips on how you can use your backup release, weak link, or hook knife to blow tow WHEN this wonderful primary locks up.
Please let us know if you have and questions or need help.
After several dysfunctions encountered by tandem, using a V-bridle and a 145 kg wl on the apex, so a maximum load of 83 kg on this primary release, I sent 3 times this email to fly@hanglide.com (LMFP contact) without any answer !!!
- And when we repeatedly ignore you just splash things all over the Jack and Davis Shows and we'll pretend that we never got your messages and pretend to make this piece o' crap airworthy.
- Yeah, I got a question? Just who the hell do you think you're fucking with?
Smooth Winds...
Yeah, for the love of God don't try to fly this piece o' crap or the fishing line we're trying to use to mask the insurmountable defects in thermal conditions.
Jen Richards
Thanks Jen. Make sure you don't try to pull any cons like this in a field of aviation in which you're not dealing with a critical mass of total idiots.
Inspection Tag...
Inspection Date:
10/7/11
Inspector:
Josiah
Lbs of Pressure:
130
Release Pressure:
13
Serial Number:
100711-1
Owner's Manual. Identical to the original - which you can read and hear reviewed at:
Bottom of second page, immediately preceding "Thanks!":
Every release has been tested for proper release operation after assembaly to a value of 130 lbs and 150 pounds on our test stand to insure the release is functioning as it should. If you have any issues, please contact the distributer for assistance.
- Yeah asshole, I got an issue. I fly at 320 pounds, and use a weak link 338 pound weak link at the top end of my bridle for a one and a half G towline tension. It this piece o' crap were "functioning as it SHOULD" - according to USHGA/FAA regulations - it could handle TWICE that with a reasonable 25 pound pull. You're saying your pushing your luck at less than HALF that.
- So what are you gonna do about that issue? Tell me how I SHOULD be using a much SAFER weak link?
- Do you test every release for proper release operation after assembaly and before passing it on to the distributer with the same care, competence, and professionalism with which you composed and proofread those two sentences?
On third page immediately after "The weak link is used to protect the equipment by breaking at a set value.":
The compact design of this release requires the use of a specific sized weak link. That weak link value should be at 130-150 pounds depending on pilot weight. Because of the compact design, (Note) weak link can not exceed 1/8" in diameter or else the pull pressure to activate the release will become very high.
Rot pasted directly from the letter to Antoine - with "(Note)" stupidly left in the text.
Immediately after that insertion, "We recommend the green stripe 130-pound test tournament fishing line." has been edited to:
We recommend the green stripe 130-pound test tournament fishing line by Cortland. This release design has been extensively tested using this weak link line.
Meaning that they couldn't get their piece o' crap to work halfway reliably with anything heavier than the green stripe 130-pound test tournament fishing line by Cortland - no matter how hard they tried.
From the end of that paragraph, this sentence:
The primary release and the secondary release require more force to actuate and release the towline as tow pressure builds.
has been deleted.
Towards the end in the "Aerotow refreshers", after "- If you are outside the cone of safety and unable to immediately correct your position - release immediately. If you are uncomfortable - release immediately.":
- To release while on tow, it is best to use a sharp, forceful pull as opposed to a steady pull. You may want to practice this.
- As opposed to releasing while NOT on tow.
- Yeah, DEFINITELY use a sharp, forceful pull 'cause you're gonna die using a steady pull to try to pry this piece o' crap open.
- And DEFINITELY practice this. And you might wanna look into steroids as well.
And, also copied straight out of Antoine's letter and pasted in right after that:
- As the tow forces increase, expect the release to require more force to actuate and release the tow line. Pulling in reduces the tow pressure making it easier to actuate the release. This will also prolong the life of your weak link. A sharp, forceful pull on the release handle works best.
Yeah, keep emphasizing that sharp, forceful pull you just talked about five sentences ago - and pulling in, as you will again at the end of the section. So much easier to write a manual telling people how to attempt to survive with a piece o' crap like this than it is to design something responsibly and competently in the first place.
Ooh!!! Check this out!
We are currently using one of these releases on our tandem gliders and are able to put a lot of use on the release in a short time frame.
- How can you use ONE of these releases on your tandem gliderS? Are you just swapping it around between flights?
- This manual has been out since 2009/07/12. Are you STILL using ONE of your releases on your tandem gliderS? I'da thunk that after well over three years since the prototype came out and the better part of three since you've been selling these things to people the superiority of the compact design would've been so obvious that you'd have them on ALL of your tandem gliders.
No. I looked through the staff photos and bios but couldn't make a match. And the flight was made a couple of springs ago so he may not even still be there. But at 5:16 we get a REAL GOOD look at his face and SOMEBODY who hangs out a lot at Lookout won't have any problem.
Is this man belong the LMFP staff !?
Undoubtedly did anyway.
Also, while you're looking at 5:16...
A recent testimonial from a long time aerotow pilot...
Since these situations occasionally do happen, until this summer, I was still searching for a better release. One which I could operate without taking my hand off of the base tube...
Check out the bicycle brake lever at the bottom of the starboard downtube.
Also...
You can confirm that there's no weak link anywhere in the glider's bridle/release assembly and, as the tug takes up towline slack and before the funnel blows back, between the towline and tow ring.
Also...
- There's a fixed shoulder to shoulder bridle on the passenger's harness.
- The secondary bridle runs from a light carabiner engaging the passenger bridle, forward through the thimbleless bottom eye of the primary bridle, and back about four feet to what is obviously one of the bent pin secondary releases Lookout sells Lark's Headed onto the left (shoulder) aerotow loop of the pilot's harness.
- Worst case scenario...
-- Lockout.
-- Tug weak link blows, tug bridle wraps at tow ring.
-- Glider blows spinnaker shackle and the six feet of primary bridle that's gotta clear the tow ring doesn't.
-- The towline tension can now - in theory - be in quadruple digits and half of it's going to a bent pin release which locks up at about 155 pounds.
-- Assuming that you can pry the Bailey open before it Weghorsts you've now got four feet of spectra that needs to burn its way through that little loop in the bottom of the primary bridle which has just become your tow ring.
Also...
Note that for the entire flight after release to and beyond the point at which the glider rolls to a stop the bridle assembly remains draped over the basetube.
Towing Aloft - 1998/01
Finally, you should deal with your bridle. If you have a two-point bridle and have released from the top, the bridle will fall over the basetube and trail behind you. This line may hamper control somewhat and would certainly be dangerous if it caught on something or tripped you during landing. So the first thing to do is pull it over the top of the bar so it trails from your shoulders and along your stomach.
Yeah, that's no BFD normally. But let's not forget that on 1991/12/15, Michael Elliot, a 27 year old Lookout qualified Hang Two about fifteen seconds away from completion of his tandem training, was killed clipping a tree while hooked in with Tandem Instructor and Aerobatics Pilot Extraordinaire Bo Hagewood coming into that field - quite possibly using that same approach. So flights don't always progress as envisioned at takeoff, shit actually DOES happen, and when it does nobody really needs one more stupid element in his configuration to possibly turn a merely exciting day into a last one.
(Hey Bo... Did you ever contact Michael's family and express your appreciation for the way he cushioned your impact?)
Joe, wake up!, you have to publish something with your release.
Yeah Joe.
Right now ONLY commercially available two point aerotow release that stands a snowball's chance in hell of working once in a while under anything over normal towline tension is the piece of shit spinnaker shackle job with the bicycle brake lever that was slapped together over twenty years ago at Wallaby - and it can't be safely mounted on the basetube.
Matt's pumped out a zillion copies of his "compactly designed" piece of shit and will NEVER admit / concede that it IS a piece of shit and thus will NEVER AGAIN make publicly available a loop actuated version of the Wallaby Release he uses on his tandems. Probably just as well...
