Hi Gail,

There is actually no prescribed way to turn at release
of tow in the UK.
You can turn either way, and I regularly do.
Sometimes there can be cloud to the left and also when
I'm being towed into an aerobatic box I will very often
turn right depending on my desired positioning.
It is generally accepted however that most people turn
left.
Give a climbing right turn a go next time and see which
way the tuggie turns!
Usually they are pretty good and turn the opposite
way it's only when they are flying on mental autopilot
that they instinctively turn right.
with a glider in a climbing right turn and tug in a
descending right turn there should still be no conflict.
So no nasty accidents.


At 15:06 16 July 2003, Gail wrote:

PTS accuracy landing, whats that. In UK all landings
are supposed to be
accurate.

Here...here! Although having said that, my parking
isn't always quite as
elegant as it should be, but then my excuse is that
I'm a novice pilot with
only a mere 130+ hours.

Talking of international differences, I was talking
to a German glider pilot
recently and we were discussing aerotows. When I suggested
that we (glider
pilots in the UK) release and climb left, he said 'oh,
in Germany its the
other way around, we release and climb right!' I'm
glad I found this out
early it might have saved me from a nasty accident
in the future.

The curious thing about all of this is I would have
thought that all FAI
members would have subscribed to the same standards
but it seems not so.


Gail