Walt Connelly wrote:

ALSO, in general how much runway is needed for an adequate
winch launch? What might the minimum runway length be?

We in europe do winch launching as the standard procedure. Our airfield has
1200m (~4000 feet) paid out cable and we get release height of about 400m
(~1300 feet). With strong headwind we even get 600m, sometimes more. Our
club charges 4,- ? for a launch.

It depends on lots of factors: engine power, pilot skills, wind direction
and strength, cable (steel or dyneema), lenght of cable, glider type... and
certainly more. The above numbers are for a double seater like ASK21, steel
cable and moderate headwind.

There have been launches with dyneema cable of 3000m length and release
heights of 1200m. This is a really cost effective way to do aerobatics.

To answer your question: I would think 3000 feet is the minimun for a
reasonable winch operation. However, I have seen fields with only 2000 feet.
Chris