At 15:53 13 July 2009, bildan wrote:

Look, I didn't start this thread. You don't have a perfect winch and
neither does anybody else. There's a LOT of room for improvements in
every aspect of winch design. Keep an open mind.

If you think that automatic gear changes don't matter, put a tension
logger on yours for a few launches. The results will astonish you.

What gets my dander up is "emotional" opposition to all attempts at
innovation based on the idea that your domestic winch is 'perfect'.

Sorry to ask you this again Bill, but could you please quantify what
problems your alleged 'tension spikes' actually cause? We just don't
seem to get weak link or cable breaks associated with gearchanges. Even if
they do exist, there is enough elasticity in a 1km plus winch cable to
absorb them. As you have been told repeatedly by everyone with a decent
quality automatic gearbox winch, the gear changes are totally smooth and
imperceptible at the glider end.

And can you prove that your mega expensive superwinches will do any better
in rough conditions with a wobbly student pilot at the controls of the
glider?

Derek Copeland