Ancient Sky Dog Antics.
The link below is an air crash investigation video.
It brings to fore changes needed in preflight check lists.
I recall a laps in my preflight check list.
I also recall a laps in a friends preflight check list.
In the link below go to minute 40 of the video to get to
the real meat of the checklist advisory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWrcRRmPH6I
I realized the laps in my preflight as I was doing it.
I spoke the words, “Weaklink is good- Release is good,”
without looking at either. I halted my race to get into the air
to actually go back and look at each item and confirm that they
were in fact both GOOD. As it turned out I was good to go.
But not so with my friends laps in his preflight checklist.
Ignoramus (not the assisting pilots real name) and I were assisting Victimus
(also not the hooked in pilots real name.) by hooking Victimus up to the towline.
Any mistake here could end up crashing Victimus onto the frozen snow
covered lake behind the show machine without any opportunity to release from the towline.
Ignoramus, at this point only had experience with Moyes Tow releases and had no prior experience with the “Three Ring Circus” release that we were currently using. (Decades ago.)
Hooking up correctly, back in the day, would require the towline end of a 3/16” Polypro rope to be hooked to a 1/8” rapid link that next had the weaklink and then a big 2” diameter ring. Next it would be hooked up to the remaining two ring release. (I’m glad I could clear that up for you.) Anyway-----
Ignoramus, unnoticed by me, (AKA Clueless) without the rapid link, weaklink and 2” ring,--- hooked the Polypro rope directly over the second smallest ring of the “Three Ring Circus Release.” (Which now made it a two ring release without a weaklink.)
It would be a perfect capture moment upon pulling the pin to release. The release would open but no way would it let go. The loop of the towline would not slip over the outer part of the ring that was through the loop of Polypro rope. It worked a lot like a button in a button hole.
Ignoramus drug the release up in front of Victimus to get his approval and Victimus said, “That’s fine! --Thank you Ignoramus.” (Not verbatim.)
Not only did I (AKA -Clueless) not detect Ignoramus’ mistake Victimus also glossed over the mistake in his excitement to get into the air.
What happened to Victinus upon attempting to release at altitude? That’s not the point of this post.
I’ll just leave the readers hanging here since the point of this post is to not make the same mistake that the pilot in command, Victimus, made.
What might happen to you if you make the same mistake is just as much of an unknown ending.
No pilot died during this tow operation.