Ian and Vaughn, I fly from a *very* bumpy all-grass airfield. Several
power planes have lost their noseleg there, and someone once broke a
suspension arm on a 4x4 driving across it too fast. It's worth noting
that with a Tost hook you need to pull the release further on the
ground run than in the full climb to release the cable under tension
(and we're talking ~500 daN, not the little tug people give during
release checks). It's just not possible that you could pull the
release by accident.

(There's also been an incident where the pilot pulled the release but
his gloved hand slipped off the ball-shaped handle. You need a grip of
sufficient strength that when you pull the release, it will move. T-
handle releases are far better in this respect.)

Vaughn, I've not flown with a release mounted on the top of the dash,
but I've launched people flying gliders with such a release and they
always have their hand on it.

Vaughn and John, that's why you do pre-flight checks. I know some
people stop bothering once solo as this year I saw a Ka6 lose its
canopy and indeed an Astir launch with airbrakes open. "Airbrakes
symmetrical, closed, and locked."

There was a crash in 2005 where a possible cause was the pilot failing
to tighten his straps and then not being able to reach the stick:

http://www.aaib.dft.gov.uk/cms_resou...0No%20656).pdf


Dan