On Monday, June 18, 2012 1:55:21 PM UTC-5, Ramy wrote:

If it is not the cause, must be to main contributing factor. I just find it hard to believe that it is unrelated.

Ramy, unless the glider was stalled and spun and couldn't recover, the tail dolly likely didn't have anything to do with it.

Aft CG makes a plane sensitive in pitch and possibly hard (or impossible) to recover from a stall/spin. But on tow you are way above stall speed.

Biggest problem with a tail dolly left on (on most gliders with a normal CG) is lack of directional control on takeoff or landing.

But again, this is all speculation.

Sad, whatever the cause. But Tom K may have to add number 45 to his list...

Kirk
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