Talking about aerotow upsets, the worst I ever saw, which took place before neither plane had really left the ground, was at the World Championships at South Cerney in June 1965. All the towing was by Chippys provided by the RAF as the airfield being used belonged to them. There was this American pilot (of some fame as far as cross countries went) who right after the 'all out' on his tow must have thought he was having a winch launch as he hauled back on the stick (we could see his elevator full up) and lifted the towplane's tail right off the deck while he was still accelerating. The tuggy did his best to combat this, but our intrepid Yank continued hauling back, and eventually broke the back of the Chipmunk! Never heard who paid for that.
I did 733 aerotows, all but 7 as P1 and I never had any trouble myself, nor did anyone else in three clubs I flew in. Aerotowing was the gentleman's way to get airborne.
I too still have my Silver 'C' badge and wear it with pride whenever it is appropriate and, like you, would never part with it - Number 4769 it is, though I had the 5hr leg done very early in my career and had I got on with it, would have been in the late 2000's. Too much instructing.
Last edited by Olympia 463; 27th Dec 2017 at 09:11.