How to get maximum height on a winch launch?

Ian,

winch launching my Calif over 8 years on a 280 hp winch was exactly "full
power until release", and that was the only way to go.
So, in some cases this type of instructions actually does work.

Bert

"Ian" wrote in message
ps.com...

Dan G wrote:

With a K21, which winch drivers here (which includes me) are told to
give "full power all the way up" from our Oldsmobile V8.

Then with all due respect, I think your club needs to think about its
training policy for winch drivers. "Give full power all the way up" is
a recipe for disaster - it should be "Give enough power all the way up,
and don't assume that means full throttle". A good winch driver knows
how much welly to give it by the bow in the cable, the speed of the
drums and the appearance of the glider. Whacking in full throttle
without a care is as bad as giving full back stick from the start of
the launch.

If your club is training winch drivers to think about throttle position
without considering effects and training pilots to think about stick
position without considering effects, it may have to do some
fundamental thinking about flying and training. In both cases the
principle should be "Know what effect you want and use the right amount
of control to achieve it, monitoring the situation and varying inputs
as required." I would be very cautious about an organisation which
taught crude open-loop control in two separate safety-critical areas.

Please don't take this personally, because it's not so intended.

Ian

"Bert Willing" wrote in message
...
Ian,

winch launching my Calif over 8 years on a 280 hp winch was exactly "full
power until release", and that was the only way to go.
So, in some cases this type of instructions actually does work.

Bert

Full power for the whole launch works when the winch is severely
underpowered. As more powerful winches are introduced, you will find there
are points in the launch where the driver must reduce power to maintain
constant tension.

Bill Daniels

Bill Daniels wrote:

Full power for the whole launch works when the winch is severely
underpowered. As more powerful winches are introduced, you will find there
are points in the launch where the driver must reduce power to maintain
constant tension.

It's the inflexibility of "full power all the way" which worries me.
I've lobbed K21's off at Sutton Bank on windless days which needed full
throttle, windy days on which a whisker over idle was quite enough and
days when things changed from calm to windy half way up the launch. A
driver who thinks "K21 - right, full power" is ... I was going to right
"get himself into trouble oneday" but that isn't quite right. He's
going to get two other people into trouble one day.

Ian