Winch Launch Fatality

On Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:10:28 -0700, T8 wrote:

On Jun 23, 11:14Â*am, Martin Gregorie
wrote:

Apart from anything else, your hand should be on the release knob
during the launch

This is surprising to me -- a non-winch-qualified pilot. Do you do the
same for aero tow?

Don't forget we're talking 30 seconds or so from when the glider first
moves until you're off the top of the cable, not several minutes, and no
trim changes should be needed during the launch.

And yes, because I learned to fly on the winch, I generally do keep my
hand on the release during an aero-tow. I leave the wheel down while on
tow, so in my Libelle there's never a need to take my left hand off the
release. If I'm flying anything else (e.g., a Puchacz for annual checks)
and need to re-trim, etc. I'll do that and then put my hand back on the
release.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |