On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 10:18:37 UTC, "W.J. \(Bill\) Dean \(U.K.\)."
wrote:

: A pilot might aerotow on an aft hook when a forward hook is fitted if:
:
: a/ The forward hook is unserviceable,

That would be ruled out by my " ... is available"

: b/ The forward hook is taped over:
: to increase performance,
: to reduce noise,
: to reduce drafts.

And that would be sheer stupidity - the cause, I reckon, of 90% of all
gliding accidents.

: I think that the tug pilot or the organisation providing the tow would be
: fully justified in refusing to tow the pilot in any of these circumstances.

Agreed. Or to impose conditions. At my club, any visiting pilot who
wishes to tow with a belly hook has to take a check flight in a
two-seater, towed with the belly hook, before s/he may fly,
regardlessof experience or qualifications. But then, it's a club which
lost one of its tug pilots, elsewhere, to an upset.

: If there were to be an accident, there might be a problem in claiming on the
: insurance, and any investigation is likely to be adversely critical, even if
: the tow hook position was not a factor in the accident.

The latter point worries me a bit. Accident investigations should, I
think, concentrate on what happened and what mattered. They shouldn't
kae side swipes at things the investigator doesn't approve of, if they
are irrelevant. In fact, investigations generally shouldn't be
adversely critical. We can all do that when we see what the cause of
an accident were!

Ian