SAFE Winch Launching

Frank,

John Kangas mowed the King Mountain Glider Park (http://www.kingmountaingliderpark.com/) last week end. He also installed tie-downs getting ready for the Aug 17 "grand opening" . (Are you planning to attend?)

As you know, one of John's goals is the installation of a winch. He feels the field's proximity to the mountain and associate know areas which generate thermals will make flying cross-country from a winch a "piece of cake." I am sure he would be interested in knowing about an old Gehrlein that is languishing somewhere here in the US. (There is also a glider operation "start up" in Baker City, OR that is looking for an old winch.)

I flew my Gold 300km triangle out of Mackay, Idaho and one of the turnpoints was the King Mountain Glider Park coordinates. (http://www.soaridaho.com/Flights/6F_Gold_Distance.html)

With the proximity of both the King Mountain Glider Park and Baker City, a CG hook for my HP-14 is on my winter project list.

Wayne
http://www.soaridaho.com/

"Frank Whiteley" wrote in message ...
On Jul 13, 10:42 am, "Wayne Paul" wrote:
"Del C" wrote in ...
At 15:01 13 July 2009, Wayne Paul wrote:

I concur that the US needs an economical way to launch sailplanes. As elsewhere in the world, a good winch seems to be the answer.

I don't have a ground-launch endorsement in my log book; however, I hope to get the training in the near future.

In order for the endorsement to have any value, I will need to install a CG hook on my HP-14 and travel to a facility with a winch. There are a couple of auto/truck ground launching operation less then 300 mile; however, I will have the travel about 700 mile to use a winch. This should give you some sense of the US lack of winch launch accessibility.


Wayne,

I was talking with Bill Corbin today about the prospect of finding a
winch for King Mountain. Any old Gehrlein model 62's languishing
about out there readers? We may be launching with one starting
Tuesday. I spent 8 hours on the tractor mowing the launch and
recovery area and runways today, such is the rain we've had in
Colorado this year.

Frank Whiteley

At 15:01 13 July 2009, Wayne Paul wrote:
After watching this thread deteriorate, it reminds me why I
stopped participating in the WinchDesign Yahoo news group.
The discussions became personal, agressive, angry, and
absent of civility.

I really wish this thread would change its' tone, or move back
to the WinchDesign group.

Uh, no, we don't want this in the Winch Design group, either, I've had
to resort to moderating away further discussion of this particular topic.
At the moment, we're having a rather informative discussion on various
techniques for fabricating drums...

Marc