Nose releases in the US

[Stefan Will]

I’ve been looking at used gliders on Wings&Wheels in the US, and the vast majority lack nose hooks. Wondering why that is given the safety benefits of nose hooks for aerotows, which are the primary launch method here. Are they just not offered as an option by the manufacturers? Or are people just being cheap?

Can someone explain?

— Stefan

[John DeRosa]

I agree that a nose release is safer.  I will guess that the more common CG release has something to do with winching.  That is a CG release allows for both winching and aerotowing.  And winching is quite common in Europe where many gliders come from.

I know that some manufacturers have the option on new gliders to install a nose or CG release.  Maybe both.  Case in point is my 2002 Schleicher ASW-27B which came to me (used) with only a CG release. During an annual inspection after pulling out the seat pan I was surprised to see all of the needed mounting points, working cabling, etc, to install a nose release.  See the attached picture.

To retrofit all I should have to do would be to purchase the proper Tost release, install it, then cut a hole in the belly.  So, it appears that at lease Schleicher figured at some point that it was "cheaper" to  go ahead and install the mounting points for both CG and nose releases.

- John (OHM) 

[Ian Molesworth]

CG release on aerotow takes a bit of pilot skill. There are two problems. Lingitudinal stability is reduced so pilot needs to be quick on the pedals but, and probably more importantly, there is a strong tendency for the glider to pitch upward, and that's the killer for tug pilots.

Most manufacturers will have at least the mounts and cable guides built in at fuselage build stage with the option to fit one hook or the other or both with maybe €1000 difference in having only one fitted. I have seen nose only aircraft, cg only and of course aircraft with noth hooks fitted.

Retrofitting the other hook can range from a day or twos work to a few days or a weeknoht of service. I sold my LAK17A-T with chin hook recently and the new owner had the CG hook fitted, just getting a kit of parts and hook from the manufacturer took nearly 3 months! Then a weeks work for the engineer to fit the bits.

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[Charles Mampe]

The most common US built gliders are made by the old Schweizer company. Likely 95% were nose/chin hooks. Some older models also either had CG hooks or the mounting spot for a CG hook (SGS-1-26 SN 002 is an example of CG mount in place). This would have been for ground launch which is not real common in the US.

Other countries do more early training via winch due to cost, thus more CG hooks.

Frankly, nose hook vs CG hook I never really notice, I have lots of time with both. I will say that at least a chin hook helps to do better training for aerotow. The student needs to be more attentive on tow.

[George Haeh]

With modern glass ships towing on CG hooks, the critical factor is the pilot paying undivided attention to staying in proper position behind the towplane - and my hand is on the release except when I change flaps. 

I have found my ASW-27 with CG hook the easiest glider I have flown on tow, including through rotor – except when a towpilot decides the factory recommended tow speed is too fast for his taste. Guess which towpilot I had to release behind. RTFM and make sure the towpilot knows your required speed. 

High wing gliders with the pilot sitting erect have a much longer pitch moment arm from the CG hook. They can be nasty on the winch. 

With nose hooks, you can have pitch and yaw couples that have to be compensated for. 

On my spring checks, one instructor wanted me flying higher relative to the towplane. I much prefer to fly just above the wake to maximize margin for towpilot preservation. 

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  George Haeh

  403-370-9033

  gh...@fastmail.fm

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[Hank Nixon]

I have flown a family of Schleicher gliders with all 3 positions.

ASW 27 with CG hook

Same with chin hook  

ASW27-18 with nose hook.

27 with the CG hook is not at all hard to keep position and only has a moderate pitch up with tension increase on the rope. Like any tail wheel glider it does require attention to directional control on takeoff but the tail wheel makes that no big deal.

The 27 with the chin hook is not notably better in terms of pitch up, being only a few inches higher than the CG hook. It may help a little with directional control.

The 27-18 , with the pure nose hook, can be flown almost hands off on tow.

I closed off the chin hook hole on my '27 and my '28. I did not find the improvement to be worth the noise, drag and extra cost of maintaining 2 hooks.

The nose hook mandate came out of Europe where they seem to like to use much shorter ropes than we use in the US.

My opinion, based on several thousand tows with these types of hooks, is that a proper length rope, and attention to flying, are much more important than the location of the tow hook.

FWIW

UH

[Tom Watson]

Just above the wake is also lowest drag resulting in better climb out as well as safer for the tow pilot. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 6, 2026, at 7:20 PM, Hank Nixon <uncl...@earthlink.net> wrote:

I have flown a family of Schleicher gliders with all 3 positions.

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[Charles Mampe]

I prefer a proper low tow, this puts you basically on a line from spinner to tow hook to glider tow hook. No trim or elevator use from towplane, thus even more efficient for him.

[Eric Greenwell]

My ASW20C came with only the CG hook, which I used for a few years before having a nose hook (really a "chin hook") installed. It made the tow easier, but the biggest improvement was taking off unassisted. The glider went straight down the runway from start to lift-off with the chin hook, but when using the CG hook, I had to be very careful to keep in rolling in the right direction. Well worth the cost of the installation.

Eric

[Charles Mampe]

Yes, it would help with an unassisted launch. We have a private grass strip not from from home that we sometimes land at. Instead of flying a ground person there to launch, we just do a proper setup for launch. The glider is towards one edge of the grass nose about 45* to the other side. Wing tip closest to near edge is on the ground. Hook up, glider pilot gets in, gets ready and then closes the canopy. On acceleration the dragging tip starts to turn the glider, about the time the glider is lined up with the runway, you have aileron and then just take off.

The grass is usually a short length, I wouldn't do it in tall grass.

This is with a CG hook.

[John DeRosa]

Charlie talks about initiating a launch in a glider with a CG release.  

My first ship with a CG release was a 1982 DG-101 (I loved that ship).  I asked around about what I need to know about flying my new "high performance" ship and especially with the launch.  The thing that came back to me from several people is to be careful launching on a CG release.  

I was raised flying Schweizer's chin release ships where no matter what might happen with cross winds, tall grass or dragging a wingtip, the nose location of the release would pull me back straight down the runway.  Not so with a CG release.  

The CG ship was described as being on a gimballing balance point at the CG, with nothing helping pulling it back straight down the runway, and anything (wind, grass, dragging) could initiate a ground loop.  In fact we had an accident on the field years earlier where this happened and the glider cartwheeled onto its nose causing injury and a totaled glider.

Why did this accident happen?  Most everyone on this thread knows, but bares repeating, that at the start of tow the ailerons are totally ineffective until you start rolling down the runway causing airflow across them.  This lack of control can allow a wing tip to drop and potentially drag in the grass (hard surface runways can be more forgiving).  This then can cause the glider to pivot  rapidly about the CG release.  Luckily my DG-101 came with comparatively HUGE ailerons so it didn't take much of a ground roll to regain lateral control.   Also having a good wing runner - which should all take the SSF wing runner course. (https://www.soaringsafety.org/learning/wingrunner/wingrunner.html).

Enter my "new" ASW-27 which has ailerons that are MINISCULE in comparison with the DG's and downright TINY compared with a 2-33's ailerons. The first few flights went without any issues.  Then came a windy day when I had two attempted launches in a row where I immediately released because of a wing drop (keep you hand near the release!!).   So I learned several things that helped; 1) tell the wing runners to "run twice as far as you normally do".  2) tell the tow pilot to accelerate quickly.  3) keep the airbrakes slightly open.  Haven't had an issue since.

Bottom line: The CG release itself isn't inherently dangerous.  You just need to learn the downsides and to be very alert.  Be quick on the release if it just doesn't feel right. 

PS - Sorry, but I would NEVER launch on grass, no matter how short, without a wing runner.   Never.

- John (OHM)

[christopher behm]

Great point about cracking spoilers on a standard ship. 👍 

In a flapped ship, like my 304cz, reflexing the trailing edge, I find really helps get you roll authority a lot earlier than leaving the camber in +1 (which is the recommended setting for a normal headwind launch). I do this on cross and tailwind takeoffs. (We can only take off in one direction at the club).

My plane has both releases. I've only used the CG release a couple times, but my feelings were that it actually felt better, and more precise towing closer to the CG.

I should give it more use in the future. 

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Sent: Tuesday, April 7, 2026 10:27:51 AM
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Subject: Re: [RAS_Prime] Re: Nose releases in the US

 

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[John DeRosa]

Thanks for the comments.

Actually my ASW-27 has flaps which I set per the manual for takeoff.  

John H DeRosa(OHM Ω)

West Dundee, Illinois, USA
mailto:jo...@derosaweb.com
http://derosaweb.net

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein

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[George Haeh]

Unballasted my 27 has so far launched fine on tow with negative flaps and spoilers locked. 

The rudder is good at keeping wings level well before the ailerons. 

I had one wing drop around 20 kt and released. 

There was an exciting incident in another club where the pilot hung on with interesting gyrations in both aircraft. Winch training would help. A careful review of the BGA Safe Winch Launching website is highly recommended, especially reacting immediately to a wing drop. 

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  George Haeh

  403-370-9033

  gh...@fastmail.fm

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