Ray,

Apart from the need to carefully monitor and follow the tug bank angle
I have not experienced any difficulties with low tow using a belly
hook. Sure, the rope occasionally rides along the side of the
fuselage if you get too low but this has not caused any scratching
(PIK 20B) or marking. Pitch stability on tow is generally good even
with CG at 80% aft limit, except in very turbulent conditions where
one needs to have quick reflexes.

I have seen competition pilots "zoom" from low tow to high tow before
releasing and shudder at the implications of just mis-timing the
release. My own practice in low tow is to drift out 5-10 degrees to
the right, check aispace clear, release then bank hard right, gently
climbing to wash off speed to initial cruise speed, say 50 knots. The
rope immediately moves away from the glider to the left with little
risk of snaking back towards the canopy.

I've tried moving into high tow before release but on each occasion
got blasted by the tuggie for not following "procedure". On balance
the drift out and release procedure works well for me.

On 24 Jul 2003 21:16:51 GMT, Ray Lovinggood
wrote:

Sounds like some of you do 'low tow' position with
a CG hook. I've done the 'low tow' only with nose
hooks (Schweizer 2-33, 1-26, and Blanik L-13) and wondered
what happens when flying a ship with a CG hook.

What happens?

Can the tow rope scratch the bottom of the ship?
Can the upward pull on the rope try to pull the nose
up?

Anything else?

It seems a little strange to be in the low tow position
with a CG hook. I think before releasing, it would
be prudent to move to high tow, to keep the Tost ring
from having a chance of slapping back at the canopy,
or at least look like it is coming at the canopy and
frightening the daylights out of me.

Thanks for any words of wisdom.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA