At 19:00 28 March 2009, David Chapman wrote:
A Yahoo groups forum on Glider Winch engineering. Some posts review
tension
control, ?? .......
http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/wi...eer/message/36
http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/wi...eer/message/38

and even one thinking about using battery power?
http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/wi...eer/message/40
Did anyone get a electric battery launch before?

There is a German made electric winch called the ESW2B that essentially
runs on battery power, albeit an array of 12 volt lead-acid ones. They
need to be constantly charged up while in use, either from the mains or a
portable generator. I believe that you can't do too many launches per
hour without boiling the battery acid.

A winch needs at least 300hp or 230kW to launch a modern two-seater
glider, so it's a bit too much for normal mains electricity!

Derek Copeland