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by dmitrygr 256 days ago
You misread. It causes the crash of the leading plane, not of the following one, so the glider having no fuel is completely irrelevant

As for a system that measures forces, that’s not likely to work either. Transient forces are OK, but the same force over a little bit of time is enough to force a nose down attitude that is unrecoverable. Attempting to draw the line unequivocally between the two is difficult because it depends on conditions, weights, centers of gravity, and many other things.
1 comments
garrettgrimsley 256 days ago
They didn't misread, what they're saying is that the lead plane would detect conditions/forces that would result in a tow upset and then cut the tow tether. There's a video in this thread that shows that currently, in manned gliders, the glider pilot can and has a responsibility to release if a tow upset is happening.
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dmitrygr 256 days ago
It. Does. Not. Always. Work!

Read linked NTSB report

(i understand it well - have been flying planes for over 13 year now)

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