On Sun, 11 Dec 2016 16:03:09 -0800, stephanevdv wrote:

1. Balance the wing, not just level it.
2. Point the glider EXACTLY at the winch.
3. PRECISELY center all controls and don't wag the stick around in the
roll.
4. Above all, don't force a pilot to wobble along during an extended
ground roll while struggling to keep the wings level.

I have an issue with points 2 and 3: you're of course right if the winch
hook is on the center line of the glider. However, many gliders (e.g.
Ka-6, ASK-13, ASK-21) have an off-centre winch hook. With a left of
centre hook, the initial acceleration causes a marked yaw to the right.
It is much better in this case to align the glider pointing slightly to
the left of the winch, and giving left rudder at the start.

There was a discussion about this during my club's launch marshal meeting
today. The consensus was that there is a potential problem with point 3
because many pilots think 'balanced turn' and also add some aileron, thus
inviting wing drop, when leaving the ailerons centralised and just
applying rudder is the correct course. Centralising all controls avoids
this. I should add that we use SZD Juniors, which have a larger left hook
offset than any of the gliders you mention and consequently a stronger
tendency to swing right, especially if there is a cross-wind from the
right!

I start winch launches with controls centred regardless of whether I'm
flying my Libelle or one of the club's fleet (Junior, ASK-21, Puchacz or
Grob G103). In all cases you can get rudder on fast enough to control a
swing if you're paying attention, and what are you doing as PIC if you
aren't paying attention?


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martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
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