Originally Posted by
rnzoli
Yeah, that's true. I am probably biased by knowing that glider tugs must be really quick in releasing a glider, if it starts to climb too high behind them and lifting the tug's tail, risking the tow plane descend into the ground at low altitude.
But these banner towing operations are not only at low level constantly, but also boring as hell, so when the WTF moment happens, mobilizing congnitive power is harder than in the glider tugs, where the pilots know their kill zones in advance and better anticipate WTF happening to them.
Having towed gliders, I was fortunate to never have any issues such as the tail being lifted. But if it were to happen, it would seem that instinct would be to initially pull aft on the control stick. One might instinctively start using the other hand to assist instead of pulling the release. It is good to perhaps review procedere/simulated scenario prior to first tow of the day.
In addition, once the tow rope is released the strong nose-up elevator input might lead to a rapid pitch up and stall.
It would be interesting to hear the experience of a tow pilot that decided to release a glider due to the glider getting too high.