On Dec 28, 3:37*pm, toad wrote:
Sorry that I'm late to the discussion, but I think the issue about
winches in the US is primarily about land. *I doubt that there are
very few public use airports in the US that would allow winch
operations. There are only a few that put up with aero tow glider
operations. * So to start a winch operation in the US you would have
to own enough land and be able to get it designated an airport (hard
to do politically) to allow winch operation.

Has anyone in the states considered using Rotax-powered aircraft for
towing? The Rotax Falke has a tow limit of 650 kg (around 1,400 lbs I
think) and a surprisingly good climb rate with just 100 hp - though it
is a motor glider afterall (and you can use it for land out training
too, amortizing the costs). The beauty of Rotax-powered aircraft is
their running costs - around 1/4 of those of a Pawnee. That's a
seriously big increase in your profit margin per tow.

If you're at a hot n high airport there is a turbo variant of the
Rotax, but I don't think it's been fitted to the Falke. There is the
G109 which is a GRP motor glider with the turbo engine, but when the
high-boost period (five minutes) is used up the climb rate drops
dramatically.

Though by the sounds of later replies, beginning winch launching
sounds a lot more realistic in the US than some might think.


Dan