Bill Daniels wrote:
Note that in Bob's rig, the track of the one man dolly is MUCH greater than
those that must clear the tailboom/rudder. This makes it very hard for the
wind to overturn it. Also note that Bob rotates the wing level almost as
soon as the root is released from the root dolly. I've seen Bob de-rig his
very heavy LS3 in a 40 kt wind.

Wow! I would not want to even remove my tailplane in a 40 knot wind,
much less have the wing perpendicular to the wind when it's removed from
the fuselage, even when it is flat. I don't care how wide the track is:
at 40 knots, my wing panel could easily lift off the dolly if it got
just a small angle of attack, or a gust/turbulence. I mean, it's almost
flying with the fuselage attached!

I think this system is WAY safer than the "do-si-do" of walking the wing out
past the tail especially in a high wind.

When I take the wing out of the trailer, it's parallel to the wind, so
there is very little force on it. Moving it aft until the dolly is just
past the tail doesn't change that. Once it's past the tail, the wing can
be rotated flat, which greatly reduces the effect of the wind. Then,
it's moved into position besides the fuselage.

So, the moving past the tail is the safest part; moving it perpendicular
to the fuselage and the wind is where things get riskier, and that part
of the operation sets the limit on the wind I can handle.

Fortunately, I've never had to derig in really strong winds; instead,
I've tied down the glider, or got it to hangar or a sheltered area. Two
big motorhomes nose-to-nose in front of the glider can really help!

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org