On May 31, 7:05*pm, "noel.wade" wrote:
To add to the chorus:

Any of the more-modern ships I've flown (70's glass/metal and newer)
seem to fly just fine on Aerotow with a CG hook. *There are three
points to consider during the launch, in this order:

1) Wing position and cross-wind corrections. *This has been covered by
others in the thread well-enough; but I'd like to emphasize that
starting with full downwind rudder helps a lot, at least in my
experience. *And, as others have said: The best thing to do is watch
your first 50 feet of ground-roll. *If it is going from bad to worse
yank the release and come to a controlled stop. *In my experience with
auto-racing and flying, the worst situations always seem to happen
when something starts to go wrong and a person tries to "save it" (by
leaving their foot on the gas, or over-correcting, or whatever).
Don't try that - just call it off and try again.

2) On liftoff - as you get rolling try to use forward-stick and stick-
trim to get the tailwheel off the ground as soon as your rudder is
effective. *That'll give you better steering control on the remainder
of takeoff *and* put the wing at a lower angle of attack (so you won't
jump/kite as quickly). *Be prepared to add forward stick as you come
off the ground, and don't be shy about changing your trim multiple
times on the takeoff and aerotow. *I'm not yet a CFIG but I've been
flying with a lot of new-to-XC pilots recently and I've noticed that a
LOT of them don't trim on aerotow, during thermalling, or in many
other phases of flight. *Trim is your friend - the less you're pulling
or pushing on the stick, the better control-inputs you can provide for
roll & pitch excursions and the more relaxed you'll fly (making you
better able to feel and focus on other things).

3) Throughout the launch and aerotow - USE YOUR FEET! *Aerotowing with
a CG hook means that you can pretty-much point the nose in any
direction you want. *I actually view it as a nice "bonus" and prefer
towing with a CG hook for this reason (excepting the crosswind
difficulties during the beginning of the ground-roll). *But I again
have found many newbies recently that don't think to use their feet on
aerotow. *Its far easier to make small corrections with a bit of
rudder and slipping, than with big bank-angles on tow. *Keep your feet
active and don't be shy about using some rudder (within reason) to
keep the glider behind the towplane and pointed in the direction you
want.

Just my $0.02,

--Noel
P.S. *The back-release of the rope is a tricky thing on the ground in
my DG-300; like others I find a bit of wheelbrake while taking up
slack and just at the beginning of the roll is an effective "cure".

I like your analytical approach. You'll make a great instructor.