[aus-soaring] Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 23:13:59 +1000

[Harry Medlicott]

Re the Beverly incident. It was an aerotow retieve, the tug was a Pawnee and I was in a Discus. The paddock was 3000 ft., slightly downhill, short wheat stubble, a 2 kt headwind and clear of tall obstructions beyond, about as good as you get. After the glider lifted off I went into high tow as per usual but the tug was not accelerating as well as expected( It turned out later that the tugs brakes were locking on) As the gliders pitot was obstructed by the tow rings no accurate speed reading was available. As the end of the paddock came closer my concerns increased but I assumed the tug pilot had things under control and would climb away before the fence, nevertheless to give myself more options I gently eased the glider somewhar higher, about 3m above the ground but certainly not into an extreme position. With the glider still attached the tug hit the fence while still on the ground and slid to a halt 50 m further on severely  damaged. I managed to clear the fence and rudder the glider around to miss a metre high contour bank. If I had been in low tow there would have been 3 seconds available to get the glider on the ground and do something - impossible - it would have been the barbed wire fence. In an accident a Pawnee has a substantial undercarriage, the motor is out the front ,there is a hopper and an impact absorbing steel tube frame and the pilot is above the wings A glider pilot has 2 mm of  FRP between him and the outside world, and the mass of the wings is behind his shoulders. I am probably able to write these notes by using high tow on launch. Should I have relied on the tug pilot to have releasd me if the launch was doubtful? He said later he persisted as he knew that if he released me near the fence it would leave me in an impossible position. As it was no one was hurt which is what counts. Make no mistake - high tow does give you more options. That little bit of extra height can makea difference.