Crab, slips, and crossed controls

"Stefan" wrote in message
...
BTW, some glider pilots use short slips to take up slack from the tow rope,
should there happen to occur some in turbulence. Most prefer the use of
airbrakes, though.

I never use the spoilers/airbrakes to take up slack, (though really slippery
sailplanes will sometimes start a tow while holding just a tad of spoiler).
That much control authority is simply not necessary. A glider tow is a very
delicate dance, it takes timing and (usually) tiny control inputs. Usually a
little climb will do the job to take up the slack. If you screwed up and got a
really bad slack rope, you push rudder a bit to yaw, which increases drag a bit
but perhaps more importantly puts your tow hook off center from the CG. Then,
when the inevitable 'snatch" happens, some of the excess energy goes into
pulling the nose around rather than suddenly accelerating the glider and causing
the rope to go slack yet again.

Vaughn