On Tuesday, April 24, 2018 at 8:35:29 AM UTC-4, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Tue, 24 Apr 2018 04:50:11 -0700, AS wrote:

On Tuesday, April 24, 2018 at 2:29:30 AM UTC-4, Surge wrote:
If it were up to me I'd consider winch launching seeing as those
mountains are very conveniently located.

Some advantages of a winch operation:
1. I would think that a second hand winch would be much cheaper to
purchase than a type certified, tug aircraft. You don't need the latest
SkyLaunch system to get gliders airborne.
2. Operational expenses of a winch are typically a fraction of those of
a type certified aircraft. No annual inspections, no mandatory
expensive overhaul schedules, much lower fuel consumption per launch,
etc. A tug costs money to maintain even if it sits in a hangar doing
nothing over winter.
3. You don't require a pilot with a tug rating. Sourcing and retaining
tug rated pilots appears to be a problem for a number of soaring
operations around the world.

I'm sure Bruno from Utah Soaring Association (Nephi) would be able to
point you in the right direction if you are interested in setting up a
winch launching operation.
https://sites.google.com/site/nephisoaring/about-us

If you don't want to buy a brand new factory built winch or build one
for yourself, consider buying a used one and importing it. Take a look
he
http://www.segelflug.de/osclass/inde...&sCategory=107 A
40' container with a DG500 in a trailer from Bremerhaven to Charleston,
SC cost us under 2,000€. For most winches, a 20' one will do. Granted,
you would have to add the transport to MT but that would still be
cheaper than buying and maintaining a tug.
Building a winch from scratch is a fun club project but to get it right,
seek the advice of those who have done it - this is not a 'hold my beer
- watch this' project.

As part of following Uli's suggestions, its probably worth taking a look
at this Skylaunch page

http://www.skylaunch.com/index2.php

because they have a range of products, from new build winches through re-
engineered older winches to what are effectively short kits for clubs
wanting to save money by building their own, and seeing the range of
possibilities and their cost implications should help your decision-
making.

My UK club has two winches; a new Skylaunch and one of their re-
engineered Tost winches. We operate seven days a week in summer and 5
days a week in winter (weather permitting - which it didn't this year)
and need two winches during the summer so operations are not impacted by
taking a winch offline for servicing.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

Martin is correct. I met with the Skylaunch engineering team at past SSA-conventions and they would be a good company to partner with, if you want to rehabilitate and upgrade an older winch.
The same goes for Roman's Design made winches. Our local CAP wing had a Roman's Design winch for a season and it was a very well built unit. Either way, getting a commercial manufacturer involved will have the advantage of receiving an engineered solution that works but at a cost. So if your group is made up from folks that have two left hands with only thumbs on them, it is best to spend the money and get professional help. I have seen way too many examples of winches thrown together by shade-tree mechanics who thought they knew what they were doing.

Uli
'AS'