Winch Launching

On Jan 4, 5:42*pm, Rolf wrote:
Caesar Creek Soaring Club is investigating the possibility of winch
launching on our field. As expected there are very polarized opinions
on the merits, value, and safety of winch launching. I would
appreciate any rational inputs on the merits of winching or reference
data from other sites on training merits and safety. Actual experience
data would also be appreciated.
Thanks

Rolf Hegele
President, CCSC


Well, I can see you are taking a more measured and scientific approach
than I did in acquiring a winch! I have discovered in my half century
(plus) of life that if I try to answer all the questions before a
substantial act of initiative, then A) I never get to the end of the
questions, and B) my subliminal goal is to scuttle the project and
relax again. Ha! Certainly I am not accusing you of this, because what
you are doing is also rightly called due-diligence - a rational and
prudent first step. So I would ask, before we emerse ourselves in
radio calls and line captains and frequencies, is staging and winching
gliders something you can visualize at your field? Can you picture it
in operation? Where do the gliders wait before being staged for
launch? Where do they land? How much line can you handle? Is it
enough? Where does the retrieve vehicle drive? If the answers are
positive, then do it! (my humble recommendation)

It is SO much fun and SO beneficial to students who need to learn to
land consistently.

I acquired a winch almost a year ago and have used it to launch a pair
of Grob 103s and an ASK21 several hundred times over the course of the
2008 season here in Faribault, Minnesota (http://
www.crosscountrysoaring.com). There are photos/video on the web site.
We do an average of 1000 launches (aero+winch) each seven-month
season...probably 70% instruction, 30% rides (sold at mall kiosks over
Xmas).

My very first step after buying the winch was to seek expertise.

Bill Daniels and Frank Whiteley spent several days with us teaching us
how a winch operation should work. They delivered this expert
instruction/experience for travel/hotel/food expenses. You can't beat
that. And in hindsight, this step was absolutely mandatory. Having
said that, and bowing to any additions/corrections these two might
make to what I am about to write, here are a some randomly occurring
thoughts:

1. It will be more fun than you thought (my decision to buy was purely
pragmatic, but it's an absolute blast)
2. 4-6 launches per hour is great for students - both for their
training and their wallets
3. Be overly cautious/respectful about announcing and clearing the
runway. You want power pilots on your side. They will love watching
the launch. Give the local power guys a free ride. Always call them
first on the radio if they are running up or entering the pattern and
let them know you can accomodate them (or if you can't, why).
4. Yes, the winch and a quart of gas launches a glider to 2000FT, does
not require expensive insurance, is not threatened by A/Ds, does not
require expensive hangar space, does not have to be operated by a
commercially rated pilot and can be worked on by anyone (no A/P or IA
necessary). So you got all that going for you. Which is nice.
5. All emergency rope breaks are handled "nose-down and straight
ahead" unless you are so high that you decide on an abbreviated
pattern. Very nice to have down-wind landings and dog-legs into
adjacent fields a thing of the past.
6. On the negative side - visualize a power failure at 2000FT and
where the cable/rope will go given the wind direction and strength.
7. On the negative side - you have to be "switched on". The first ten
seconds of the launch requires complete focus. If something goes wrong
and you expect to sort it out in real time, you're asking for it. You
should have a plan of action and execute on cue.
8. We have the option of giving up a few hundred feet of rope and
launching from the hard runway. When we don't have a wing runner, we
do this. We have added a winch call - "go easy" - in between the "up
slack" and "go" calls. The "go easy" call instructs the winch driver
to give us enough speed to level the wings. Once leveled, we call in
the "go go go" signal. This is our own creation and seems to work
really well. In fact, it's a bit easier on the tail of the Grob as it
doesn't tend to bang down from a rolling start. This allows us to
operate with one pilot and one winch driver (who also drives
retrieve). This probably wouldn't work on grass.
9. Driving the winch does get boring. Having the winch driver also
driving retrieve seems to lessen the boredom (win-win)
10. Use Spectra/Dyneema, not steel cable (safetly, performance,
handling - all better).
11. The winch has breathed excitement back into the operation.
Students love it and request it for training.
12. The winch is drawing publicity. We have made the local papers
twice.
13. We get to 2000 feet with two people in a Grob 103 Twin II in a 10
MPH headwind with 5000FT of Dyneema.
14, We operate from a Municipal Airport. We pull the runway lights at
either end before commencing operations (Google Earth is a great tool
for assessing winch potential. If you look at FBL, we stage the winch
and glider about 300-400 feet off the ends of 30/12).


We have had no accidents or incidents to date. Where aerotow is a more
"focus here and then there and then the airport is quiet again" type
launch operation, a winch operation requires constant attention, from
launch to chute drop to retrieve to restaging, back to launch again.
As soon as you get lax, a Piper will show up on short final with the
retrieve car coming head-on the other way...and words will be
spoken. :-)
Contact me privately (use the Contact Us page of the web site) if
you'd like more of my first year's experiences.
Time to sleep!
Good luck. (do it)

-Don Ingraham