"Bill Daniels" wrote in message
...
I want to thank Don and Stefan and others from Europe and the UK for
stepping in here.

I am fighting a lonely battle to convince my fellow USA pilots that winch
launch is a perfectly normal way to launch gliders and not some invention
of
the devil.

Bill-

I think that you have a chip on your shoulder re winch launches. I have not
seen a single thread that tries to make winch launches sound like they are
an "invention of the devil". Chris' (OC)point is only pertaining to the
aerodynamics unique to the situation that a glider may be in during a winch
launch cable break. He does not seem to be making any a priori assumptions
that anything is dangerous about winch launching. I think that the
discussion re that unique situation is not only interesting but may also
possibly pertain to some other scenarios such as a hard pull and turn into a
thermal, so would like to have a more detailed understanding of it.

Casey Lenox
KC
Phoenix