SAFE Winch Launching

On Jul 22, 10:30*am, Dave Martin wrote:
So what are you saying Bill?

That old technology actually works and being brought up to date
does the job people want?


Well, not really. You could say a Model T "works" but you wouldn't
want to take one on a California Freeway. They're good enough to get
started but I really hope to see them quickly replaced with far, far
better equipment.

You have to put the word "works" in quotes since a refurbished
Gerhlein winch only works as well as it did in the '50's - except for
the Plasma Rope which is light years ahead of steel cable. There's a
technology gulf of more than half a century between the technology in
an old Gerhlein and state-of-the-art winches like the Hydrowinch.

These old winches are highly dependent on skilled winch operators and
benign operating conditions. They can still deliver some big
surprises under non-optimum conditions. There are virtually no
safeguards against operator error or really much protection for the
winch operator. Even under optimum conditions, one launch is rarely
like the one before.