After reading these cat fights for well over a year, and now that it
has spilled out into RAS, I think this public (and personal) argument
is doing harm to potential winch activity in the U.S. There are many
glider pilots in the U.S. who believe that winch launching is more
dangerous than aerotow… and this endless debate, about the merits of
one technology over another, just fuels that skepticism.

Engineers, by personality and training, want clear-cut black and white
answers to a problem. The fact is that there is a lot of gray involved
in what works with winch equipment. Regardless of the merits of new
winch technology, Europe has been effectively winch launching for many
decades with “traditional” mechanical technology. Setting the
engineering skirmish aside, the old technology is proven to work over
the course of hundreds of thousands of launches. Maybe the “new”
technology is better, but keeping it in context – it is a potential
alternative to the proven traditional technology, not *THE* definitive
answer. This is what is being lost in this ongoing point and counter-
point dialog.

There are many of us who believe in the merits of winch launching; and
that U.S. glider pilots would benefit from the widespread adoption of
the technique. However, from a management standpoint these ongoing
inscrutable arguments are a winch advocate’s public relations
nightmare. The fact is that traditional automotive-based winch
technology works, as proven by decades of successful use. The
developing new technology may be an improvement, but that in no way
negates the wide-spread use of lower cost existing technology.

It would benefit the soaring community if the polarized principals in
this personal disagreement would spend their time advocating winch
launching as a method, rather than publically arguing over technical
details that may or may not be relevant. For most of us involved in
winching, the debate is somewhat amusing (if not distressing), but
what is does do is to support anti-winch sentiment in the U.S.

Just as we can effectively train new pilots in a K-13 or a DG-1000, we
can effectively and safely winch launch with automotive-based hardware
or new technology hardware. If we could re-focus this obsessive, bias,
and argumentative dialog into promoting the use of ground launching it
would be of greater benefit to the soaring community at large.

Anyone agree?

Bob Lacovara
(Winch pilot, winch driver, winch advocate)