This should make most power pilots have kittens...

Great video!!
I noticed that the skin was kind of beat up around the landing gear and
tow attach. Wheel up grass landing or something?

John

Nice dramaturgy! However, when it comes to winch launch videos, nothing
beats this ever funny documentation of the first trial flight of a
pedestrian.
http://home.balcab.ch/stefan/wetter/Schnupperflug.mpeg

(Caution, 11 MB!)

Stefan

I was watching a guy launch his R/C sailplane using a winch.


He got a little aggressive and pulled the wings off. G

--
Dale L. Falk

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing around with airplanes.

http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html

On Mon, 14 Nov 2005 16:15:01 -0000, Dylan Smith
wrote in
::

At our glider club, we can either use the tow plane or the winch to get
the gliders in the air. Not many power pilots have come across the idea
of flinging an aircraft airborne on the best part of a mile of steel
piano wire, but we do this crazy thing. [Power pilots - whenever you see
the glider port symbol on your chart, remember that there may be a winch
there. They are less common in the US than over here, but they are used
in the US, and the 1/8th inch steel cable will not be kind to you if you
run into it. Never directly overfly gliderports below 3000' without
talking to their radio operator].

We (the Southern California Soaring Society) used to auto-tow gliders
off the dry lake north of El Mirage field in the Mojave Desert with a
1,500' wire attached to an old Buick. There was a lot of other sport
activity taking place on the dry lake at the same time, sand-sailors,
motorcycles, gyrocopters, ... One day a fellow and his girlfriend in
an Aircoup ran into the steel tow wire. The wire imbedded itself in
the wing leading edge up to the spar, and broke, fortunately. The
pilot landed on the field, and inspected the damage, then took off.

Larry Dighera wrote:

an Aircoup ran into the steel tow wire. The wire imbedded itself in
the wing leading edge up to the spar, and broke, fortunately. The
pilot landed on the field, and inspected the damage, then took off.

Ah, they still exist, the real men!

Stefan

In article ,
Dylan Smith wrote:

Never directly overfly gliderports below 3000' without
talking to their radio operator].

I trust that gliders always announce take-offs...

--
Bob Noel
no one likes an educated mule

On 2005-11-15, Bob Noel wrote:
Never directly overfly gliderports below 3000' without
talking to their radio operator].

I trust that gliders always announce take-offs...

More importantly, the ground crew give a good look around the sky before
giving the take up slack signal. The rate of climb is phenomenal - we
don't want to launch if it looks like anyone's about to fly over, it'd
be like the Space Shuttle making a take off call just before blindly
launching into whatever might be overflying the field.

But sometimes mistakes are made, or a plane blends into the sky or... so
really, it's best not to directly overfly the field.

--
Dylan Smith, Port St Mary, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net

Bob Noel wrote:

I trust that gliders always announce take-offs...

Credo #1 in safty seminars: "Never assume!"

Stefan

Our next winch....... will also be powered by an electronic fuel injected Jaguar
V12 engine which came courtesy of last year's hurricane force storm
which collapsed a garage on top of the donor car, completely flattening
the roof and cabin area of the car, but leaving all the running gear
completely intact :-)

A HA! An Ill wind that blew good!

vince norris

Looked at the nice video, but had no kittens.
Too bad - I love kittens, but gliders don't bring them - for me.

Not a criticism - different people have different aspirations/expectations
from aviation. For my part, I can appreciate the sensual thrill of being high
and riding the wind without the nuisance of a noisy motor, but it just
doesn't do it for me unless you're going somewhere. Gliders just fly and go
nowhere.

"Pilot" means 'navigator'. If you want to navigate you need power.

GF