Ground launches and weak links

I don't think most here have constructed a V-N diagram or know the basic actual limit loads as dictated by the BGCH of 1962. In the case of this document, Schweizer and Breigleb literally "Wrote the book".

Prior to JAR 22, the 24 fps gust was the prime driver for these gliders, and when using the mandatory design point Vg, typically gives a limit load of over +5gs. The the 2-22 also has a 69 Mph max winch speed. Are you saying that somehow, hundreds of similar gliders flying over 60 years have been doing so with a serious undetected flawed loads analysis?

If you are not an experienced degreed Aero Eng who has done V-N diagrams and perused the above certification requirements(I have) perhaps you should not worry about this as an issue.

Side remarks concerning the Blanik are unwarranted. LET did extensive testing and knew in the 60's they had a fatigue problem exactly where the Blanik wing failure occured. The eastern block design philosphy of "safe life" and abundance of cold war trained expert mechanics influenced how they handled this known problem. Have you seen the extraodinary detail and background on the loads analysis in the LET service/repair manual? Even so, post accident limitations indicate they were more concerned about aerobatic time than number of winch launches. Since the accident report has never been released, we will never know if poor execution of the wing rebuild on this aerobatic trainer just 800 hours prior was a factor. Based on the work I saw come out of the LET factory about that time I have my suspicions.

If this is not enough to allay concerns of winching the 2-33, consider that wing failures of high wing, strut braced aircraft are extremely rare. The strut and its adjoining attachments are sized for down bending driven compression and the resultant local buckling, and have a huge margin in an upbending case. Also, it is unlikely as I mentioned earlier, that winch tows loads are as severe on the Schweizers, the large moment arm between the hook location and the CG means you will run out of elevator a lot sooner than with a CG hook. Try ground launching a 1-26 and you will see what I mean.