Releases

[<BS>]

Thanks, I failed to notice it had a dedicated topic.

[Tad Eareckson]

That's OK. Mainstreamers fail to notice that people fall from their gliders after having done hang checks and get slammed in on tow flights as consequences of their safety devices kicking in and drivers making good decisions in the interest of their safety - regardless of how many examples are pointed out to them in dedicated topics.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40639
Future pilots

Tormod Helgesen - 2015/01/06 10:32:35 UTC

Naranek:
I second that. I just got a indication that Ridgerodent IS Tad. There was a very strong reaction to my 2 small sentences in this thread, no proof though, just a hunch. I can't understand why we can't discuss towing without these two (one?) getting all apocalyptic about it.

- What's your purpose in discussing towing? Name something positive that's ever come out of one of your discussions.

- Why should you give a rat's ass about someone else's reaction to one of "your" discussions? Either you've got everything right and that person's reaction doesn't matter or you don't have a fuckin' clue what you're talking about and you're not gonna let the reaction influence you in the slightest.

They (he) makes it sound like it's a miracle that not every two tows ends in an injury or death.

Make it seem to whom? Quote something that I (we) have ever written that makes it sound like it's a miracle that not every two tows ends in an injury or death.

Ridgerodent asked:

What is your plan for getting off tow when the bridle wraps on the tow ring?

Herald responded:

hook knife on pilot and on ground

So he acknowledges that bridle wrap is an actual danger and he gives us two total bullshit emergency responses. Did you see how long it takes him to get off tow on highly reduced tension and slack line using his NORMAL procedures with his bent pin crap?

People HAVE DIED because of that shit. So he's gonna wrap his bridle at the end of Plan A then he's gonna pull Plan B out of its sheath and hack away until he's free then set up his approach and land. And hell, if that doesn't work his Plan C guy back at the winch is gonna take his gloves off, pull the hook knife out of its sheath, and start hacking away to do Harald's job for him.

Pure unadulterated crap and Harald knows it and that's why he immediately thereafter disappeared from the conversation.

Clearly it's not so, maybe it down to the fact that most other pilots have skills that he doesn't possess.

You're right. I don't posses the towing skills that most other pilots have. Maybe you could point me to some videos of pilots demonstrating excellent towing skills so I can see just what they're doing and duplicate it. Should I be pushing myself under the high wing for a roll correction instead of twisting my body under the hang point? If I'm above the Cone of Safety do I pull in or push out? Any pointers on...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Tormod Helgesen - 2013/02/27 05:53:48 UTC

I just recently "had" to aerotow with little previous experience. I suffered a lot of weaklink breaks using the greenspot 130lbs and pro-tow. Most of the breaks was mildly annoying at worst and in one case, possibly life-saving, at least saved me from severe injury. I was going into a lockout and I didn't try to release because I didn't recognize the danger before to late.

...lockout recognition? Is that when you lose sight of the tug and the horizon develops an alarming tilt and you should pitch out abruptly to actuate your instant hands free release?

Who do you think the asshole was who signed me off on my AT rating?

Tad Eareckson - 32674 - H4 - 1991/12/17 - Santos Mendoza - AT FL PA VA AWCL CL FSL RLF TUR XC

Back on 1986/08/01 by the way.

It must be a form of compulsive behavior, I think the correct medical term is "nutjob".

Like when a cop pulls you over and writes you a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt. That's 'cause he thinks you're gonna go through the windshield sometime within the next couple miles without one. Or when the Surgeon General mandates warning labels on cigarette packs 'cause he thinks you're gonna die of lung cancer if you light up twice.

Harald could probably do tens of thousands of kiddie rides on that ice in those conditions with that crap equipment and never so much as scratch anyone. But you start doing that shit over land with gusts, thermals, dust devils, winch jams, snag potentials, pilot and driver errors it's just a matter of time before you kill someone who'd have been OK if there'd been a Koch two stage at the glider end and/or a proper guillotine on the other.

But since major disasters are so few and far between everybody's gonna continue flying with shoddy crap and talking about aeronautically challenged compulsive nutjobs like Tad and/or Steve making it sound like it's a miracle that not every other tow ends in an injury or death and exploiting the deaths of Harald and Lars to promote their twisted agenda.

Tad attacks absolutely everything down to missing punctuation. I've also put that ridgerodent alias on my ignore list so I don't have to see what he spews out next. Whatever good points he makes drowns out in profanities and general crazy talk on his website and here he's annoying.

Oh. I may have good points - despite the fact that I don't possess the towing skills that most other pilots have. OK, there certainly must be plenty of other people who have as good or better points. Name them and tell us what they are so we can finally start putting at least a few of these issues behind us.

I notice that neither you nor Naranek had a single goddam thing to say on this thread that wasn't a response to just the tone of what Ridgerodent/Tad/Steve was/were saying.

And that's the best you can do getting a Tad / Tad Clone hate rally going on The Davis Show with both Davis and Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney present? Pretty fuckin' pathetic.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://www.birrendesign.com/linknife.html
Linknife - nearly foolproof release

The Linknife has received the National Aeronautic Association Safety Award. What an incredible honor!

Great job, Peter!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/message/6726
Weaklinks

Peter Birren - 2008/10/27 23:41:49 UTC

You trying to tell me the pilot had time to release? Not a prayer.

I know about this type of accident because it happened to me, breaking 4 ribs and my larynx... and I was aerotowing using a dolly. The sh*t happened so fast there was no room for thought much less action. But I wasn't dragged because the weaklink did its job and broke immediately on impact.

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. Know what happens? 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). 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.

Name one crash or failure to separate from tow from anywhere in the history of hang or para glider towing that would've been prevented by a Linknife and wouldn't have been prevented by any other reasonably decent release mechanism - Schweizer type, Koch two stage, multi-string, barrel...

Where are all these reports of stuff - other than moronic US Aerotow Industry Standard bent pin shit - being overloaded by "too much pressure"?

When we're out there on the front lines taking care of pieces of crap like...

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Jim Rooney - 2013/02/12 18:00:27 UTC

I just buried my friend and you want me to have a nice little discussion about pure speculation about his accident so that some dude that's got a pet project wants to push his theories?

Deltaman loves his mouth release.
BFD

I get tired as hell "refuting" all these mouth release and "strong link" arguments. Dig through the forums if you want that. I've been doing it for years but unfortunately the peddlers are religious in their beliefs so they find justification any way they can to "prove" their stuff. This is known as "Confirmation Bias"... seeking data to support your theory... it's back-asswards. Guess what? The shit doesn't work. If it did, we'd be using it everywhere. But it doesn't stand the test of reality.

...Jim Keen-Intellect Rooney with his rabid drooling advocacies of Industry Standard bent pin garbage and 130 pound Greenspot instant hands free release and demented insistence that nothing that isn't already being used everywhere can't possibly work, where the fuck are you standing defending your award winning X-Acto Knife blades and telling him he's totally full of shit?

If you really believe in your baby then how come you never do shit by way of getting it into circulation. Aerotowing probably puts more flights into the air than any other form and aerotow releases are near total global disasters and your Linknife is virtually totally absent from that scene. Why do you think? If we're killing people because of total junk equipment, and we are, and there's vastly superior equipment and technology available, and there is, don't we have problems that totally dwarf the hardware issues?

[Tad Eareckson]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/message/8068
Towline Guillotine

Peter Birren - 2012/01/21 21:32:02 UTC

Picking up a discussion from some time ago. I stumbled onto this video of a towline guillotine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifQk5L3Ux7U

Stuart Caruk - 2012/01/22 02:00:53 UTC

Great, now how about a picture of the same system after sitting cocked for a couple years in a salty, sandy environment... Everything works great in the lab in static conditions. The real world tends to be harsher though...

Springs stretch, metal rusts in place, etc.

Dan Hartowicz - 2012/01/22 02:21:14 UTC

Well there is stainless steel, oil coatings, but I agree that different environments demand different preparation for lasting dependability.

Gregg Ludwig - 2012/01/22 06:53:28 UTC

My opinion is that such a device as pictured is too dangerous and perhaps presents more safety issues than it intends to resolve. It is too easy to have a helper chop his fingers off.

Please... no guillotines!

Miller Stroud - 2012/01/22 12:32:10 UTC

Always keep it simple!

http://vimeo.com/68791399


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8576/16673571861_3962427127_o.png
162-20727

But the GOOD news... No guillotine that had sat cocked for a couple years in a salty, sandy environment; springs stretched, metal rusted in place; preparation for lasting dependability required; fingerless helpers - and everything was kept SIMPLE. Would've made the day complete if they'd further simplified the operation by taking the parachute out of the equation.

[Tad Eareckson]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40793
Wallaby video

Steve Davy - 2015/01/23 07:00:40 UTC

Gordo,

Fast forward your video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW21RBhFEyY

...to 3:00, and then please tell me what the plan is for that guy to abort the tow in an emergency situation.

What's an emergency situation? How could there possibly be an emergency situation in a towing operation?

Thanks.

Gordon Marshall - 2015/01/23 07:22:43 UTC
York, Western Australia

He just releases, simple.

Well duh. It's not like he's gonna think he can fix a bad thing and not wanna start over or just freeze. And even if he doesn't he's got an appropriate weak link with a finished length of 1.5 inches or less which will break before he can get into too much trouble. Plus he's got a Hewett / Two-To-One / Center Of Mass Bridle which is autocorrecting until he reaches the point at which the towline tension pins him against the control frame. And because it's autocorrecting there's virtually no chance of him reaching the point at which the towline tension will pin him against the control frame.

Unless I don't quite understand your question.

On no, you understand it just fine. It's just that it's an incredibly stupid question.

Though I might explain that we use a 'Hewit Bridle' and a 'Linknife' release.

Damn straight. The two greatest innovations in the history of hang glider towing. Unimaginable...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skysailingtowing/message/6726
Weaklinks

Peter Birren - 2008/10/27 23:41:49 UTC

I know about this type of accident because it happened to me, breaking four ribs and my larynx... and I was aerotowing using a dolly. The shit happened so fast there was no room for thought much less action. But I wasn't dragged because the weaklink did its job and broke immediately on impact.

You're focusing on AT but there's a lot more towing going on then at the flat/smooth-ground country club sites. On a crowned country road, off the back of a truck or trailer... ain't a place for a dolly or a threaded bridle of any type.

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. Know what happens? 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). 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.

...that anything could possibly go wrong.

The release cable can be easily grabbed with either hand...

Obviously. It's within easy reach. And hell, with your students flying upright on the downtubes it's not like they'll be using their hands for much in the way of effective control anyway.

...or my preferred method was to swat it away with my foot.

- So you only tow upright as well.

- Yeah, I get a real secure feeling having a release cable routed by my feet too. Really hard to imagine why more people don't configure that way.

- A bit confused here... If the release cable can be easily grabbed with either hand then why is swatting it away with your foot your preferred method?

Gotta say that of all the releases that we used the Linknife was by far the simplest and most efficient infallible release for both ground towing and aerotowing.

- Right. Requires you to cut and tie a loop of fishing line and feed it through the slot every flight, can be put totally out of commission by a bit of wheat stubble, and is configured with a release cable within easy reach but that's by far the simplest and most efficient infallible release for both ground and aero towing of all the releases that you used. Absolutely astounding that anybody is using anything else anywhere.

- So tell us all about the cheap crap with which you experimented, how it failed, and why you didn't issue any advisories.

[Tad Eareckson]

Video I got clued into via 2015/02/06 11:45:36 UTC Personal Message from a first contact member. Did my best on a transcript, any help in the way of filling in blanks and corrections will be greatly appreciated. I'll have comments in one or more following posts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePT3r0ZW54k

Hello everybody. My name is Aleksey Vilkov, I'm from Russian Federation. And hereby I would like to present the Russian type of so-called mouth release. The purpose of this release is towing of the hang glider using ultralights or airplane, for example, Dragonfly.

So, the main feature of mouth release is that it provides possibility to disconnect towing line without using of hands. Your hands will be still on speedbar and you will continuously control the hang glider but also it will be possible to disconnect towing line at every moment.

So, this release have been designed by Alexander Kaluzhin living in Russian Federation in Yekaterinburg. That is in central Ural region.

Several generations of Russian pilots was grown at this release and this is strongly recommended for beginning of the towing practice.

So, now I will explain the system. How does it work. First of all... The release. Release have next part... First of all... This main body, the hook, the lock lever, the Bowden cable, and so-called clothes peg. This is cover.

So, how this system works during the towing.

First of all, I will show you how to install the mouth release on your harness. So, this towing loops of my harness, this is bridle with a weak link. Take a look at this bridle. The bridle is made with a Dyneema wire and loops on the ends of this bridle is spliced without any knots. It is very important. No knots on the bridle.

Next... You now need two shackles. So you now need also two shackles to connect bridle and release to your harness.

OK, let's connect the release. --- OK, let's connect the release. Put the shackle into the shoulder loop and connect the release using this hole and pin. The hook and lock lever should be in up side.

Next step... Connecting of the bridle. For most safety you should use weak link. Put the shackle in second shoulder loop and connect it like this. So if this is a towing line with the ring you can connect your harness to the towing line using the bridle. Put the bridle on the hook and lock the release using your mouth, like this.

So, the system is ready for towing. If during the towing something goes wrong you can easily disconnect the towing line, just open your mouth like this. You see... Your hands will be still on control bar and you will continuously controlling the hang glider. But you don't need to use your hands to disconnect the towing line. This is the main feature of the Russian type mouth release.

So, one more thing. Take a look on this cover. This cover is connected to this clothes peg very very... --- thread.

[Tad Eareckson]

Thoughts on this release...

The principle is solid and the engineering looks good but I've never had my hands on one and thus have been unable to load test it. And the fact that I've never seen any load test figures makes it a pretty good bet that nobody's load tested it.

This thing's a dead-man switch - somebody shoots you in the head you're off tow. That has its advantages and disadvantages but as far as hang glider launch safety is concerned - which is the biggie in this game - that's mostly a good thing.

What makes it a dead-man switch is the spring visible in this photo:



A solo hang glider release should be able to easily handle 500 pounds of towline tension. This connects to a bridle end so right about half that. So that spring needs to be able to kick that latch open at 250 pounds direct load - and I like them to be able to handle 350. Heavier spring means you either have to bite harder on the "clothes peg" or make it longer.

Or maybe under tension the mechanism will kick itself open when the clothes peg is released.

I really like this release:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh3-uZptNw0


Very light, fairly cheap, will handle 375 pounds direct load easily. Downsides... It's not a dead-man switch and it's poorly suited for foot launching (but foot launching for aero is stupid anyway).

For most safety you should use weak link.

Not really. The sole purpose of the weak link is to prevent overload - and in hang gliding what you're most concerned with is overloading your release mechanism. And gliders are almost never under better/safer control right after weak link breaks than they were right before. In a low level lockout - which is the big killer in hang glider towing - a weak link of any strength is unlikely to make much difference one way or another. What WILL make a huge difference is a release like the ones under discussion.

And we note that - while we've got a pretty good description of the bridle - no mention is made of the material or strength of the weak link or its rating relative to a glider. So the implication is that throwing a piece of fishing line into the equation will increase the safety of the towing operation by having something that will break before you can get into too much trouble.

You want a weak link loop of around 250 pound test material which will break at around 250 pounds direct load or 500 pounds towline tension. That should be strong enough to never break when the tow's under any kind of control and light enough to keep from overloading any half decent release.

Unfortunately...

The purpose of this release is towing of the hang glider using ultralights or airplane, for example, Dragonfly.

..the Dragonfly is a stupidly designed tug with a tow mast breakaway geared to blow at around 400 pounds and thus - without a modification - will never be safe for anybody to fly behind.

The bridle is made with a Dyneema wire and loops on the ends of this bridle is spliced without any knots. It is very important. No knots on the bridle.

Quite so. However the weak link, which is supposed to installed "for most safety" is ridiculously long and thus capable of doing THIS:



And if/when it does that you no longer have a weak link anywhere in your end of the operation and will immediately have twice the load on your release and there's a potential for having no limit on that load. Make weak links as short as possible...






Just long enough so they won't bind on a mechanism when slack.

And use weak links on BOTH ends of the bridle. If one weak link blows and the bridle wraps at the tow ring the other will instantly be double plus shock loaded and there will be a 200 plus percent certainty that the other will blow. Ideally you'd want normal weak link strength on your release and 120 percent weak link normal weak link strength on the other/right end to minimize the likelihood of losing the bridle.

Or you could put a Number 7 Tost weak link (green, 300 decaNewtons / 674 pounds) between the towline and the tow ring and forget about weak links on the bridle.

Or - best option - you could replace the bridle and weak link with a Bridle Link:

Put the shackle in second shoulder loop and connect it like this.

You can, and should, eliminate the possibility of a wrap by - instead of mounting release immediately at the shoulder / tow loop - installing an extension between the tow loop and release such that there are only a couple of inches of bridle to feed through the tow ring. In this configuration:




the barrel releases are extended forward and the bridle (link) material/structure is too short, fat, and stiff to be capable of tying itself to a tow ring.

Put the shackle in second shoulder loop and connect it like this.

That shackle should be installed backwards from the way it's being done. Pin through the tow loop and weak link riding and centering itself on the "U".

Your hands will be still on control bar and you will continuously controlling the hang glider.

Not entirely true. Since you're towing just off your shoulders and not using a two point bridle also connecting to the keel you'll be pulled forward relative to the glider and control bar:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7200/14097626583_03972773c6_o.png


and you won't have much of the upper speed range available to you. The glider will be decertified. This has been a big factor in at least two aerotow fatalities. I wouldn't tow like that but using a heavy weak link and a release such as this one the risk of something really bad happening is extremely low. I would advise anyone towing one point to seriously consider aborting the tow if he sees the tug surge upward below a couple hundred feet. And one should also consider the fact that sometimes thermals can sneak in between the tug and the glider so one doesn't always get a warning.

Still, I'd put money on a one pointer with the ability to abort against a two pointer with a "release" within easy reach.

25-32016
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5548/14306846174_185f09082e_o.png


http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5530/14120804830_2aabd74d25_o.png
12-22509

Thanks zillions for referring us to this video. Very happy to have it in the collection.

[Steve Davy]

Or maybe under tension the mechanism will kick itself open when the clothes peg is released.

I don't see any reason why it wouldn't kick itself open while under tension unless there is lots of friction on the gate or latch pivot and/or within the cable.

I suspect that the spring is there to help with slack line performance, and to help overcome friction within the cable housing.

[Tad Eareckson]

Got a follow-up note from our first contact member - the author/co-star of the video.

Aleksey Vilkov (birukobu) - 2015/02/09 07:38:17 UTC

Dear Tad!

It will be fine to heard your opinion. It is very important for me because I am going to make web-store to supply such releases to USA as well and it will be needed to make all right. I will have more questions for you before I started it. And first of all: may be Russian Mouth Release (RMR) is not good for towing and nobody in US will bought it?

But... let's wait and see.

Feel free to use my posts and video. A bit later I will make one more and sent to you the link.

Cheers!
Aleksey

PS: I just finish reading of your post and have several correction:
1. Aleksey VIlkov
2. Alexander Kaluzhin
Ka - like a car
Lu - like a Lucas George
Zhin - like gin with tonic
3. Just for info))) Central Ural region, Yekaterinburg. The city found by Russian emperror Pert 1st and named as his wife Katrin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yekaterinburg

now seriuosly:
I can perform the loading test and suspend the 500 lbs to RMR and try to measure the force needed to hold the clothes -peg. May be it will clarify something.
BTW, I am connecting the RMR to one shoulder loop and bridle to enother one to reduce the load for RMR in two times. Innitially, it was common practice, the tow line was connecting directly to RMR and RMR bounded to harness via small Y bridle. I think it is not best way to set-up the towing system.

about the small spring inside RMR:
That spring is neede to provide tow-line disconnection with zero tow force, means without tencion. Everithing is possible during the towing... e.g. lock-out///save me God!!/// and it could happen that it will not be tension at tow line that why Kaluzhin add the spring to RMR.

about the friction into Bowden cable:
Yes, it is one of disadvantages of the system. Pilot should ceep RMR clean, without dust and periodically use grease to lubricate the hosing from inside. I am using several drops of this https://kennethtangnes.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/wd-401.jpg

Dear Tad!

It will be fine to heard your opinion.

Very happy to have been able to provide it. More of a semi-educated assessment than an "opinion" though. (I shy away from that word as much as possible.)

Good news:

It is very important for me because I am going to make web-store to supply such releases to USA as well and it will be needed to make all right.

Bad news:

Don't expect any help from the hang gliding establishment in getting these things into widespread circulation. Count on these assholes sabotaging efforts - as they've done before with Steve Kinsley and me.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Jim Rooney - 2013/02/12 18:00:27 UTC

Deltaman loves his mouth release.
BFD

I get tired as hell "refuting" all these mouth release and "strong link" arguments. Dig through the forums if you want that. I've been doing it for years but unfortunately the peddlers are religious in their beliefs so they find justification any way they can to "prove" their stuff. This is known as "Confirmation Bias"... seeking data to support your theory... it's back-asswards. Guess what? The shit doesn't work. If it did, we'd be using it everywhere. But it doesn't stand the test of reality.

AT isn't new. This stuff's been worked on and worked over for years and thousands upon thousands of tows. I love all these egomaniacs that jump up and decide that they're going to "fix" things, as if no one else has ever thought of this stuff?

http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=28290
Report about fatal accident at Quest Air Hang Gliding

Davis Straub - 2013/02/12 18:11:58 UTC

I think that the argument that has been made is that a stronger weaklink would perhaps have helped by keeping the pilot connected to the tug, a mouth release would have allowed the pilot to get off earlier.

Mouth releases are quite interesting. They allow the pilot to quickly and automatically release early in the tow, say the first three seconds. Something that is quite difficult with a barrel release.

If something bad happens while you are on the cart but not up to flying speed mouth releases are superior. Once you are at flying speed then there is less of an advantage for mouth releases. Still they are quicker to release and you don't have to take you hands off the base tube.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Davis Straub - 2013/02/13 15:45:22 UTC

IMHO aerotowing is relatively safe compared with foot launching. I would certainly like to make it safer. What we would all like to know is what could we do to make it safer.

Mouth releases for the first three seconds of the tow

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30971
Zach Marzec

Jim Rooney - 2013/02/16 05:05:41 UTC

I can tell you that for me, you're going to have a hell of a time convincing me to tow you with *anything* home-made.
"But I love my mouth release! It's super-delux-safe"... that's great, but guess what?

My general rule is "no funky shit". I don't like people reinventing the wheel and I don't like test pilots. Have I towed a few test pilots? Yup. Have I towed them in anything but very controlled conditions? Nope. It's a damn high bar. I've told more to piss off than I've told yes. I'll give you an example... I towed a guy with the early version of the new Lookout release. But the Tad-o-link? Nope.

So I hope that sheds some light on the situation.
But again, every tuggie's different and every situation is different.
What doesn't change however is that it's my call, not yours.
And it's my job to be the "bad guy" sometimes.
Sorry. It's just the way it is.

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31052
Poll on weaklinks

Brad Gryder - 2013/02/21 23:25:31 UTC

It's sad that Zach's gone.
Some (perhaps well-intended?) pilots seem to be promoting the old, tired, "better" weak links and "hands on bar" release ideas.

Sorry, but that's not the best answer. We don't live in a perfect world of quantum knowns and 100% reliabilities. Fine-tuning a weak link isn't going to get us but so far. There's also a way to swing your body way outside the control frame so it stays up there while you reach out with one hand and release. Come on - do some pushups this winter. See if you can advance up to some one-arm pushups.

It might help some pilots to be less scared and more confident if they believe they have the perfect weak link and the perfect release for their tow, but truly if a pilot believes he has a high probability of a low-level lock out coming soon then he just needs more advanced AT training, milder conditions, and/or maybe a more forgiving glider.

Be ready for a weak link failure at any time, and also EXPECT your release to not work. That's good advice that Campbell and them taught me before they "graduated" me from their school by making me Chase the Ace.

They sell cheap deadly junk and don't want:
- competition of any kind
- safe quality equipment circulating and illustrating how deadly their cheap junk is
- to be sued out of existence for killing people on their cheap deadly junk when safe quality equipment was available and in use elsewhere

Good news:

Thanks to a really wonderful perfect storm fatality two years plus a week ago and a lot of demolition work mostly by members of this forum the credibility of the hang gliding establishment thugs is at a pronounced historic all time low and they don't have as much stomach for attacking members of this forum as they did before.

More good news:

We might be able to benefit from a critical mass dynamic - similar to what's recently happened with "standard aerotow weak links" practically going overnight from 130 to 200 pound material. The more we can get into circulation the more we're going to be able to get into circulation. And if low time flyers start seeing XC jocks flying them...

I will have more questions for you before I started it. And first of all: may be Russian Mouth Release (RMR) is not good for towing...

No, it's pretty obviously great for towing. I know of no incident attributable to one and highly doubt there's been one. My main problem with them is that they're so good they'll encourage more one point aerotowing.

...and nobody in US will bought it?

SOMEBODY in the US will buy it. Every time there's a discussion about it there's interest in obtaining them expressed. Also, it appears to me that most aerotowing in the UK is one point and they're just about all using the Koch two stage release which is stupid overbuilt junk in that application. And Australia uses the same cheap junk that the US does. So those two pieces of turf also have a lot of potential as markets.

But... let's wait and see.

Feel free to use my posts and video. A bit later I will make one more and sent to you the link.

Cheers!
Aleksey

PS: I just finish reading of your post and have several correction:
1. Aleksey VIlkov
2. Alexander Kaluzhin
Ka - like a car
Lu - like a Lucas George
Zhin - like gin with tonic

In place. Thank you.

3. Just for info))) Central Ural region, Yekaterinburg. The city found by Russian emperror Pert 1st and named as his wife Katrin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yekaterinburg

Where Nicholas and his family were murdered. Sad page in world history.

now seriuosly:
I can perform the loading test and suspend the 500 lbs to RMR and try to measure the force needed to hold the clothes -peg. May be it will clarify something.
BTW, I am connecting the RMR to one shoulder loop and bridle to enother one to reduce the load for RMR in two times. Innitially, it was common practice, the tow line was connecting directly to RMR and RMR bounded to harness via small Y bridle. I think it is not best way to set-up the towing system.

If I were going to use it myself I'd use it with a bridle because it cuts the load to which it's subjected in half at essentially no cost. However, if it can easily handle 500 pounds it would simplify construction / make things more idiot resistant to run the towline load directly to the release / eliminate the bridle. However that would necessitate a Tost weak link, or something else that wouldn't be affected by dragging, at the back end of the towline - and tug operators would rather be boiled in oil than do anything to change the stuff over which they have control for the better, even when they're the sole, significant, and obvious beneficiaries.

about the small spring inside RMR:
That spring is neede to provide tow-line disconnection with zero tow force, means without tencion.

Steve Davy - 2015/02/08 00:40:08 UTC

I don't see any reason why it wouldn't kick itself open while under tension unless there is lots of friction on the gate or latch pivot and/or within the cable.

I suspect that the spring is there to help with slack line performance, and to help overcome friction within the cable housing.

Everithing is possible during the towing... e.g. lock-out///save me God!!///

God is what the vast majority of US flyers depend on to save them and their buddies - to help break their standard aerotow weak links as early as possible in lockout situations and, after that hasn't worked, with full and speedy recoveries.

...and it could happen that it will not be tension at tow line...

If you're in an aerotow lockout you can count on normal tow tension and up. But there have been catastrophic and fatal tows catalyzed by unreleased slack lines.

...that why Kaluzhin add the spring to RMR.

Good. That's also why our Four-String Emergency Release is now a Three-String Emergency Release.

about the friction into Bowden cable:
Yes, it is one of disadvantages of the system.

Not really.

Pilot should ceep RMR clean, without dust and periodically use grease to lubricate the hosing from inside. I am using several drops of this https://kennethtangnes.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/wd-401.jpg

Yes. But the main problem with the Bowden cable is routing in with the couple of relatively sharp bends one his when trying to mount Bobby Fucking-Genius Bailey's two point releases for basetube actuation. It's a real good bet that that was a critical issue in the...

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3722/13268409664_8601c418a1_o.jpg


...Roy Messing lockout fatality and that's why USHGA aerotowing regulations specify that the release must be "within easy reach" instead of where you can actually use it when you actually need to.

You're using the cable in an application in which it has a fairly straight shot. Nonissue. You'd have to work pretty hard pouring sand into it to create a problem. It's not like it's Peter Birren's award winning Linknife that gets put totally out of commission by a bit of wheat stubble in the slot. (And that must give someone flying through a dust devil a real warm fuzzy feeling.)

Thanks for the fixes, clarifications, expansions, updates. Keep them coming. I'll be more than happy to do everything I can to help get these things into widespread circulation.

And thanks for working in a second language. Your English is WAY better than my Russian. (I think my sister - a high school biology and language teacher - can do a bit though.)