Successful Winch Launch Operations from Public Use Municipal/County Airports

We have had success with winch operations at the Nephi airport in Utah over the past few years. It is a large airport with some power traffic, but not a lot. Some transient training flights, local skydiving operations, autogyro operations, plus our aerotows. But we have always been able to coordinate by radio and vigilant observation without any conflicts. We work closely with the airport manager, and typically do a NOTAM on days we winch as a courtesy as well. And we try to maintain good working relationships with all the major parties at the airport. Winching is secondary at this point, so it isn't a frequent, but when we do winch we tend to make it an all day activity.

Mike Hendron
Utah Soaring Association