Nimbus 4DT accident 31 July 2000 in Spain.

There are certain points during an air tow, where there are also very small
margins for error. I also believe that winch launches have major risk
advantages over air tow, particularly due to the elimination of the tow
plane from the risk equation.

Unfortunately, the field I fly out of is too short for winch launching to be
practical.

Mike Schumann

"Stefan" wrote in message
...
Bill Daniels wrote:

I am fighting a lonely battle to convince my fellow USA pilots that winch
launch is a perfectly normal way to launch gliders and not some invention
of
the devil.

Just three things to consider:

A which launch brings you to a certain altitude above the site. At some
places, this gives you enough options to find a thermal, at other sites,
it does not.

A winch operation doesn't mix well with other traffic. It's doable, if
everybody is willing.

And, most important: If done correctly, a winch launch is safe. But there
is an extremely small margin for errors. I love winch launches, but they
are dead serious, literally.

Stefan