Frank Whiteley wrote on 3/21/2021 10:51 AM:
On Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 8:56:44 PM UTC-6, 2G wrote:
....
Bragging? Not intended as such. Rather trying to illustrate how
"preparing one's mind 'properly'" can be, likely *will* be, a good thing
for Joe Glider Pilot, if avoiding adrenaline, negative-excitement, and -
potentially - accidents, is deemed personally desirable.

Other than what I've read on RAS, I know zip about the situation and the
pilot in this particular unfortunate - seemingly, avoidable - accident.
I wish him a speedy and full recovery and continued good soaring, if he
so chooses. And part of this *particular* Joe Glider Pilot would
genuinely appreciate hearing from the horse's mouth at some point in the
future, by way of refining my mental picture.

YMMV,
Bob W.
Another factor not mentioned is what do you have on the wing tip: a skid or a wheel. If it is a wheel and you are towing on a hard surfaced runway a wing drop will be a non-event. If fact, when I self launch (with a wing tip wheel) I want the wing down even if offered a wing runner. A wing that starts down can't drop.
If, however, you are launching off of turf there will be more resistance than a hard surface. I don't ever fly off of turf so I can't say if it would make a difference. Probably depends upon how long the grass is.
A nose hook does provide some self-correcting force, but how much? the nose hook is, at most, one meter ahead of the main; an 18m glider gives forces on the wing tip a 9:1 lever arm to the nose hook. While that is better than nothing, what are the restorative forces? Say the towplane is exerting 200lb on the glider and the nose is 10 degrees off centerline; the restorative force is 35lb. This would only offset about a 5lb force on the wing tip - not very much.

Tom
Lush turf is pretty grabby and if a pilot tries to roll the glider with ailerons, the down wing aileron only grabs more turf and makes the situation worse. Only opposite rudder should be used until the wing starts to rise.

Flapped ships can start in a negative setting, and avoid the turf grabbing by the ailerons.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1