Safety of winch launch vrs. aero tow?

On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 10:26:06 -0800, "Gary Boggs"
wrote:

I really appreciate all this good input, thank you all for responding. Now
for a new twist, one of our members has built a "pay out winch". A pay out
winch is a drum with a break on it. The glider hooks up about 200' behind
the tow vehicle, and as the glider climbs, the line spools out. Does
anybody have any experience with this type of launch? How much runway do
you need for this type of launch, how high can you get, ect?

Boggs

Don't know about that one but car tows generally aren't as good as a
winch as the initial accleration is much slower. You are accelerating
the car as well as the glider. The winch motor only accelerates the
glider and wire.

The car doesn't last very long in that sort of duty either.

Mike Borgelt