Winch Launch Extreme 5200 ft

This is good news, but I have to wonder how they, or we in the US would
protect the cable from other aircraft that might stray into it at those
altitudes. Next question is how far the cable would drift on the way
down, assuming that the wind is not always right down the runway.

Mark

Bill Daniels wrote:
Good show!

Dyneema/Spectra winch cable allows for launches to approximately 50% of the
original cable length. Calculations show that there is really no upper
limit to the amount of Dyneema that can be used.

90 seconds to 5200 feet AGL on a winch beats the hell out of 20 minutes on
aero tow. That's especially true when the typical cost is $10 for the
launch.

You have to clear the area of air traffic before launch. Sinch the launch
is over so quickly, that isn't too hard. The typical light plane will
travel about three miles in 90 seconds so clearing out to that distance plus
a safety margin avoids conflict. If you operate in an area with faster
traffic, you probably had a tower to coordinate with.

Bill Daniels

"aviationnut" wrote in message
oups.com...
This is good news, but I have to wonder how they, or we in the US would
protect the cable from other aircraft that might stray into it at those
altitudes. Next question is how far the cable would drift on the way
down, assuming that the wind is not always right down the runway.

Mark

Bill Daniels wrote:
Good show!

Dyneema/Spectra winch cable allows for launches to approximately 50% of
the
original cable length. Calculations show that there is really no upper
limit to the amount of Dyneema that can be used.

90 seconds to 5200 feet AGL on a winch beats the hell out of 20 minutes
on
aero tow. That's especially true when the typical cost is $10 for the
launch.

aviationnut wrote:
This is good news, but I have to wonder how they, or we in the US would
protect the cable from other aircraft that might stray into it at those
altitudes.

Presumably the same way we do: have your field marked as a gliding field
on the sectionals with a warning about cables to x000 feet.


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