The winch should be constructed such that it is not be possible for the
airspeed to increase as a result of raising the glider's nose. Otherwise,
the winch should be regarded as dangerous.

Some improperly constructed winches, most notably those with automotive V8's
and unmodified automatic transmissions, can briefly cause the airspeed to
increase as the nose is raised causing the pilot to feel the launch is out
of control. This will happen while the transmission is in the lower gears.
This is one of the many reasons Tost removes 1st and 2nd gears from their
transmissions. They also fit a "looser" torque converter to provide
smoother acceleration.

As a glider pitches up on the launch, the load on the cable and on the winch
engine increases. If the winch is tension controlled, the airspeed will
decrease. If, on the other hand, the winch is capable of delilvering
essentially unlimited cable tension as would be the case when the
transmission is in 1st or 2nd gear, the glider may accelerate as the nose is
raised.

Note that this is different from normal acceleration to climb airspeed where
the nose may be rising even as the airspeed is increasing. The difference
is that there is no cause and effect relationship.

Bill Daniels

"toad" wrote in message
oups.com...
Bill,

Are you saying that the winch should be constructed so that "pitch up
= speed up" is impossible, or that the "pitch up = speed up"
relationship is not correct for any winch ?

Todd Smith