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

Agreed, winch launching does require some length, and the more the better.

In the US, there are some soaring sites that reside on BLM patents.

1. You need to form or belong to a 501c(3) organization.
2. You need to find the appropriate patch of federal land and make formal
application.
3. There may be some property taxes and extended costs in acquiring access
roads.

See http://airsailing.org/
and
http://tucsonsoaring.org/
for examples.

For a startup operation or move, winch launching will clearly entertain
fewer NIMBY issues than an aerotow operation.

Frank Whiteley


Mike Schumann wrote:

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