At 16:35 24 March 2009, bildan wrote:

Derek, I have more experience with ground launch than you are likely
to achieve in your lifetime.

No, Derek, Only YOU disagree. All you are doing is "Bible Pounding"
hoping that by repeating the same thing over and over ever more loudly
people will accept it on faith. I think people are smart enough to
demand proof. I accept nothing on faith. I want engineering
measurements to support each and every detail.

Furthermore you are the sales representative for a particularly bad
winch design seeking to discredit all other approaches any way you
can. If you aren't being paid for this, you should demand to be.

Bill,

1) So how many winch launches HAVE you done? I have made over 5000 autotow
and winch launches at a number of sites over a 28 year period, both solo
and as an instructor (combined that is).

2) What engineering measurements can you provide? To the best of my
knowledge, nobody has yet found a 100% successful way of measuring winch
cable tension. The cable speeds are too high for Rolling Line
Tensiometers, so this generally has to be derived from torque or throttle
settings.

3) Other than being a satisfied user of Tost and Skylaunch winches, I have
no financial connections to any manufacturer.

Derek Copeland