Cable vs rope pulling glider from field

On Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:38:24 +0000, Ben Watkins wrote:

At 17:43 12 October 2011, kirk.stant wrote:
On Oct 12, 10:34=A0am, Auxvache wrote:
I'd like to make a stout wire cable or rope with proper TOST ring, to
have on hand should I have to tow my 15m glider from mud/soft dirt/
guano.
Is a metal cable necessary/preferable, or would high breaking-strength
rope be sufficient?
My only experience here (Chester loam, Pegase, and stick-shift BMW)
did not end well.
Thanks in advance,
Erik

You might consider keeping a Tost ring set in your glider, as part of
your landout kit. Nice to have when you want a local to help move your
glider to a different location for derigging, etc. Rope of some sort is
almost always available, but trying to use a rope loop in a Tost release
is an exercise in futility!

Kirk


If you are putting strain on the tow rope make sure you lay something
reasonably heavy (coat, car rug etc.) over the rope more than half from
the car to the glider. That way if the rope does break the rings, weak
link etc. won't end up flying through your back window!

....and use a rope with as little stretch, which means energy storage, as
possible. A light weight cable is good too for the same reason.

Steel cable is about the worst thing you could use because of the way it
lashed round if it or a fixing breaks under load and, and is harder to
wind up and store than it needs to be. OTOH plastic rope rope,
particularly Dyneema or good quality climbing rope, both have minimal
energy storage and are easy to handle.


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