"Ray Lovinggood" wrote in message
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Snip----

Also, if a two-place ship is available with a CG hook, could it
legally and safely be aerotowed with the CG hook if
a nose hook is available? If so, why not do some dual
with the instructor in the two-seater?

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina

It's legal and a good idea. I've done this sort of transition training many
times using a variety of two-place trainers equipped with CG hooks. If the
pilot flies the airtow within normal limits there are few differences to
show the effect of the CG hook. However, if the glider gets high, things
can go bad in an instant. I always brief the tug pilot that if he feels the
tail being pulled up, he should release his end of the rope instantly.

Occasionally, a transitioning pilot will turn up who has a habit of relying
on the nose mounted hook to help keep him in position laterally. That
pilot, when flying with a CG hook, will have to learn to fly the glider more
aggressively to stay in position.

There were some flights testing air towing with CG hooks done in the UK.
The take-home lesson seemed to be that a glider in a too-high position with
a nose hook is still recoverable. With a CG hook, the situation becomes
unrecoverable in an eyeblink. Air towing with a CG hook creates a situation
where things can appear controllable one instant and completely out of
control the next.

This is what prompted the LBA to mandate the installation of nose hooks for
airtow in Germany. I wouldn't go that far, but replacing the tug's
Schweitzer hook that can't be released under a strong up-load with a Tost
hook that can makes a lot of sense.

Bill Daniels