Rope Breaks (Grilling sacred cows)

Before I turned right or left I would put the nose down!

What, right into the downward path of the flying metalwork..?

I think you would have about 0.8 seconds to avoid injury, so maybe a zoom
climb to the right would be better.

On Friday, October 2, 2020 at 12:15:07 AM UTC+13, Sci Fi wrote:
Before I turned right or left I would put the nose down!

What, right into the downward path of the flying metalwork..?

I think you would have about 0.8 seconds to avoid injury, so maybe a zoom
climb to the right would be better.
I've had several rope breaks in flight.

The rope departs faster than your reaction time. Any turn you initiate is going to be happening after the rope has done what it is going to do. Normally the rope breaks at the glider end leaving the glider with the rings.

The rope will spring back only if released under tension and from the towplane end. If that happens you only have rope coming towards you. It will present little hazard unless you get it draped over the wing or tail and it can jam control surfaces. Very unlikely.

What is very likely, and has happened many times, is the desperate turn back to the runway and the resulting stall/spin.

Better to fly the glider, get it stable, assess your options, do whatever looks safest.

An immediate turn is not likely to be the safest option (depending on your local conditions) and if it is the safest option you still need to fly the glider and get it stable before turning.

All my rope breaks have been at altitude where that wasn't an issue. Ropes tend to break at the start of the ground roll as the glider starts to move or as the result of slack suddenly getting tight due to turbulence/rough handling (which tends to happen higher up).

--
Phil Plane

On Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 3:10:38 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Friday, October 2, 2020 at 12:15:07 AM UTC+13, Sci Fi wrote:
Before I turned right or left I would put the nose down!

What, right into the downward path of the flying metalwork..?

I think you would have about 0.8 seconds to avoid injury, so maybe a zoom
climb to the right would be better.
I've had several rope breaks in flight.

The rope departs faster than your reaction time. Any turn you initiate is going to be happening after the rope has done what it is going to do. Normally the rope breaks at the glider end leaving the glider with the rings.

The rope will spring back only if released under tension and from the towplane end. If that happens you only have rope coming towards you. It will present little hazard unless you get it draped over the wing or tail and it can jam control surfaces. Very unlikely.

What is very likely, and has happened many times, is the desperate turn back to the runway and the resulting stall/spin.

Better to fly the glider, get it stable, assess your options, do whatever looks safest.

An immediate turn is not likely to be the safest option (depending on your local conditions) and if it is the safest option you still need to fly the glider and get it stable before turning.

All my rope breaks have been at altitude where that wasn't an issue. Ropes tend to break at the start of the ground roll as the glider starts to move or as the result of slack suddenly getting tight due to turbulence/rough handling (which tends to happen higher up).

--
Phil Plane


I had a tug failure a week ago and it was a non event.
Power loss, release and turn back to land.
If the rope breaks at the forward end it will go under the glider unless the glider is terribly low on tow(well below proper low tow position).
I teach:
1- Have a plan on every takeoff that covers where to go at each decision point. Straight ahead if not enough energy to do a return.
2- Upon release or separation establish a normal gliding attitude for the pattern. Some instructors teach pushing the nose down. The glider is usually in a higher nose up attitude on tow than gliding flight.
3- If enough energy is available, turn back at a moderately steep turn (30 to 45 degrees) in the direction planned in 1 to give the shortest way back and get to "normal" as soon as possible.
4 If not enough energy is available to turn, land ahead in the best available area. If the area is bad, have the accident at the lowest energy possible, while maintaining control.

It is worth noting that if you do not have a plan, you are unlikely to solve the problem on the spot.
For what it may be worth, I have never had a rope break, except failure at the ring on initial acceleration, in over 12000 glider flights. I have had a few tug failures on both ends of the rope.

FWIW
UH
FWIW
UH

On Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 7:29:47 PM UTC-4, UH wrote:
For what it may be worth, I have never had a rope break, except failure at the ring on initial acceleration, in over 12000 glider flights. I have had a few tug failures on both ends of the rope.

Sor of the same experience here . . in 55 years of flying gliders, I've had two rope breaks - one in rotor when a violent pitch oscillation by the towplane sent a wave down the rope that back released the CG hook on my Cirrus, and another at ca. 3000' when the towplane's defective release sent a cloud or rope heading my way. Both were non-events. And I can't remember a tow failure after airborne that we always train for, but several while still on the takeoff roll and a couple at pattern altitude or higher.
Skyline's Resident Curmudgeon

I had a rope break at about 700' AGL during an auto tow while on
safari.Â* I climbed away.Â* When I landed, the wheel overran the two feet
of rope hanging from the release and it back released, saving the Tost
ring for the next day's flight.Â* It was a conscious decision not to pull
the release after the rope break.

On 10/2/2020 8:39 AM, Jim Kellett wrote:
On Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 7:29:47 PM UTC-4, UH wrote:
For what it may be worth, I have never had a rope break, except failure at the ring on initial acceleration, in over 12000 glider flights. I have had a few tug failures on both ends of the rope.

Sor of the same experience here . . in 55 years of flying gliders, I've had two rope breaks - one in rotor when a violent pitch oscillation by the towplane sent a wave down the rope that back released the CG hook on my Cirrus, and another at ca. 3000' when the towplane's defective release sent a cloud or rope heading my way. Both were non-events. And I can't remember a tow failure after airborne that we always train for, but several while still on the takeoff roll and a couple at pattern altitude or higher.
Skyline's Resident Curmudgeon

--
Dan, 5J

On Friday, October 2, 2020 at 10:09:12 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
I had a rope break at about 700' AGL during an auto tow while on
safari. I climbed away. When I landed, the wheel overran the two feet
of rope hanging from the release and it back released, saving the Tost
ring for the next day's flight. It was a conscious decision not to pull
the release after the rope break.
On 10/2/2020 8:39 AM, Jim Kellett wrote:
On Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 7:29:47 PM UTC-4, UH wrote:
For what it may be worth, I have never had a rope break, except failure at the ring on initial acceleration, in over 12000 glider flights. I have had a few tug failures on both ends of the rope.

Sor of the same experience here . . in 55 years of flying gliders, I've had two rope breaks - one in rotor when a violent pitch oscillation by the towplane sent a wave down the rope that back released the CG hook on my Cirrus, and another at ca. 3000' when the towplane's defective release sent a cloud or rope heading my way. Both were non-events. And I can't remember a tow failure after airborne that we always train for, but several while still on the takeoff roll and a couple at pattern altitude or higher.
Skyline's Resident Curmudgeon
--
Dan, 5J