I'm with John, and many others who have commented on this thread.

And Bill, I respectfully, but totally, disagree with you.

The "crow hop" idea is seriously flawed in this circumstance, IMO.

Either the glider in question is a safe, known quantity, and therefore is probably a lot easier to fly than any of the trainers J-soar has flown, or it is an unknown quantity that should be test flown by an experienced pilot.

In the first case, there is NFW a crow hop is easier or safer than a normal aero tow. In the second case, the nature of the unknowns would be the determining factor in whether the crow hop approach is needed. Seems unlikely in this case, unless there had been some serious modifications made to the Apis in question.

I'm a bit perplexed as to why J-soar is so hung up on this crow-hop approach to what is really a simple and common exercise. But if I was there, I would do my best to discourage it.

Just sayin'...

Kirk
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