On Monday, September 28, 2020 at 11:51:15 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Does anybody have a first hand account of a rope break in which a canopy was factually damaged because the pilot did not make an immediate turn to the left or right?

Please note:This is not my theory. I am only relating what is being taught at a particular club (not the club where I fly now).

I watched the glider-side link blast through the rear windshield of a Ford Crown Victoria that was towing an ASW-20 to the line. The stretchy tow rope was under a lot of tension when it let go. Of course, they were using a piece of chain link instead of the approved Tost ring, and it slid out of the nose hook "jaws".

I know, not what you are asking for/why you are asking.

When I was early on in my instructing career, I let a student flying a hand-controlled Grob 103 get one cycle too far into lateral PIOs before taking over. Just as I grabbed the stick there was a god-awful twang and the rope with ring was headed back at us. Because we were offset to the side and climbing slightly, the ring came back and passed JUST under the wing. If we'd been directly behind the towplane and a couple feet lower when it let go, would it have hit the fuselage/canopy? Dunno, but it would have been close. BTW, this was a pretty unique incident, as the load from the glider actually broke the Schweizer mounting bolt off the L-19 (yeah, I was young and stupid) which in turn led to the whole rope releasing (rather than breaking the rope). The tow pilot asked me to meet him out behind the main hangar when we got back down, and suffice to say he gave me quite the well-deserved dressing down.

Erik Mann (P3)