cumulus rider, been there, got the T-shirt! I was flying a 150 hp Supercub, with a climb prop, not bad performance. The glider was a K13. There was hassle and delay before the launch, we had been asked for noise abatement to choose another takeoff direction. So we had to wait for the winch cables to be withdrawn.
I was getting impatient and irritated. So made my own bed, so to speak.
When we finally got take up slack signal from the wingtip holder, I was not gentle. Bit of a yank, actually. Full power. Lifted off nicely like the cub always does, but rate of climb was NOT VERY GOOD. Possibly because we were no longer taking off directly into wind? T's and P's OK, engine sounded fine, and then, I looked in the rear view mirror.......
The K13 airbrakes had popped full open. I am towing a shed.
Now the BGA in their wisdom recommends at this point, the tuggie having realised the glider airbrakes are open, that you waggle your rudder.........!!@%&*!! No way Jose, my airspeed is below 50 knots, and we are staggering, you think I'm going to waggle my rudder as a signal? We were climbing, barely, just, and did get over the earth bank at the end of the runway, I carried on to 300 feet, so the glider should have been OK to land back, and by that time my knees are trembling in weakness and funk. So I pulled the yellow release. And still quivering, came back and landed.
But where was the glider? noplace I could see. Not on the airfield! The instructor of course had taken over when I dumped them, and neither instructor nor student realised that the airbrakes were open, they just thought they were in terrible sinking air.....and not until they were approaching the small field that destiny had selected for them, did they realise....brakes already deployed! So they walked back in through the gliding club gate. And the towrope was still attached to the glider. No damage, no injury.
Of course, I had to write a report of the incident. Managed to write the whole story, just like now, without mentioning that the tug pilot, the instructor, and the student were all women....never would have heard the last of it.