Hey, Tupperware, I think the original poster was referring to winching. It would be really peculiar to handle wire on airtow....though I am unfamiliar with those gadgets that retract the rope (?) after the glider lets go.....seems to me to add unnecessary complication, one more piece of machinery to fail, instead of occasionally dragging the tow rope through the hedge on return to the field. However, airfield supervision (the humble role to which I have been demoted since no medical any more) should ensure that the ignorant public, or for that matter ignorant pilots, should be kept well clear of the approach as getting dinged on the head by a flailing towline and steel rings is undesirable.
So, repeat after me. Braided steel wire for winching, Rope for aerotow. and keep it simple.
Reminiscing once again, regarding launch failure on aerotow; at Booker, High Wycombe, at about 200 feet behind the tug in a K13 back seat, suddenly we found ourselves pushing the rope. Tug went on without us.
I said - in a slightly elevated tone - "I have control!!" and turned to look at my options, which included being able just to slide in a handy corner of the airfield, so I ditched the rope (took 3 hours to find it later) and landed the glider back in the handy corner.
The student said "Why didn't you let me fly it? I could have done it!"
I replied "Well, I wasn't sure I could!!"
And again, from the other end of the rope, the 150 Supercub was not climbing at all well and the earth bank at the end of the short runway was fast getting closer, T's and P's OK, looked in the rear view mirror, and noticed the K13 had the airbrakes open! Scraped over the bank, climbed at about 45 mph IAS, and at 300 feet dumped the glider. All the second guessers told me I should have carried on....but my knees had turned to jelly. And the BGA rule says waggle the rudder to signal the glider that his airbrakes are open. Are you kidding? at 45 mph at 50 feet you think I'm going to wiggle the rudder? Oh yes.
The glider landed in a local field, no damage. But all three women aboard the combination have never forgotten that educational experience!
This is why we fly, to have adventures worth sharing in the bar.
I'm off to New Jersey on Thursday for the rest of August, so hasta la vista.