Bill Daniels wrote:

Oh yes, I should mention the rather elegant ESW-2B from Germany which uses
50 car starting batteries as a buffer to store enough power for ~20
launches. This winch is usually connected to the grid to keep the huge
battery pack topped up but it can also use a diesel generator. A grid tap
or a generator adds substantially to the cost but where electricity is
available or where there are extremely noise sensitive airfield neighbors,
it's a viable choice.

I googled it - awesome winch! One for aircraft under 1000 pounds
(instead 1900 pounds like the ESW) should be practical now, including
launching L-13 Blaniks, 2-33, unballasted 15 meter gliders, and all the
Russia/SparrowHawk/Apis/1-26/Ka-6e/etc that you can find.

--
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