Launch Order

On May 30, 3:28*pm, bildan wrote:
On May 30, 10:19*am, Walt Connelly Walt.Connelly.









wrote:
Just curious as to how it's done elsewhere. *I fly at a commercial
operation and the priority for launch always goes to the school
gliders....this makes sense...the student has scheduled for a specific
time days in advance.... Next come the renal ships and glider rides and
they too have been scheduled for a specific time. * If a private ship is
pointed down the runway, meaning they are ready for tow and a school
plane needs to launch, they take precedence. *I do a lot of hook up, not
an employee just another glider pilot trying to be helpful but
occasionally one of the "glassholes" gets their panties in a wad. *Every
one gets launched but perhaps as quickly as they might like.

The students, glider rides and rentals keep the operation open and pay
the bills to a greater degree than a private ship paying for a tow and a
place for their trailer. * *Any suggestions on this procedure?

Walt

--
Walt Connelly

You've pretty much described how our local commercial operation does
it. *Most of the time it works as planned but a problem arises when
the natural rhythm of soaring gets out of sync with the schedule.
It's tough to make gliders work to a schedule. *If some people have
expectations otherwise, they can get irritated. *Schedules just set
people up to be disappointed.

IMVHO, a better solution is a simple start queue operated on a first
come, first served basis. *School gliders, rides, private ships get
just in line and launch in that order. *A queue is easy to
understand. *The rules are simple too. *If a pilot isn't ready when
the tug is, he gets pushed out of line and goes to the rear. *Don't
get in the queue unless you're ready to fly. *Most of all, don't
'crash' the line.

XC types who want a noon launch can finesse the queue by entering it
at a time calculated to bring them to the front at noon. * The queue
will be filled with XC gliders around mid-day but that's OK if it fits
everyone's expectations. *Training and rides work better in the
smoother air of early morning and late afternoon anyway.

our club launches on a first come first served basis too and it works
out fine. we rarely have more than about 2 or 3 waiting at a time
though.

aviationbanter.com wrote:
Just curious as to how it's done elsewhere. =

At our club in the Uk it is first come first served for both aerotow and
winch. If it gets busy we pull out an extra tug or winch.
However if it looks like a good cross country day we set up a grid similar
to a competition grid and when conditions are sutable launch them all as
quickly as possible using all our tugs.
Typically this takes about 45min for 60 gliders.
This short break from training or trial lessons normally keeps everyone
happy

aviationbanter.com wrote:
Just curious as to how it's done elsewhere. =

At our club in the Uk it is first come first served for both aerotow and
winch. If it gets busy we pull out an extra tug or winch.
However if it looks like a good cross country day we set up a grid similar
to a competition grid and when conditions are sutable launch them all as
quickly as possible using all our tugs.
Typically this takes about 45min for 60 gliders.
This short break from training or trial lessons normally keeps everyone
happy

On Mon, 30 May 2011 23:29:07 +0000, Nigel Pocock wrote:

aviationbanter.com wrote:
Just curious as to how it's done elsewhere. =

At our club in the Uk it is first come first served for both aerotow and
winch.

Where I fly, also UK, at busy times we run two winch queues: one for
training and trial flights in two seaters and the other for single seaters
and private two-place gliders. Both queues operate on a first-come, first
served basis. We tried using two winches but found little benefit from
that as in practice the main delay is from ab initio and trial flight
briefings: if both queues contain gliders and an instructor is busy
briefing, the single seat line gets launched until he's ready.

We have a separate first-come, first served aero-tow line, which is
usually served by one tug unless the queue is unusually long, when the
other tug also gets pulled out until the queue is cleared.


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

At 16:18 31 May 2011, Martin Gregorie wrote:

Where I fly, also UK, at busy times we run two winch queues: one for
training and trial flights in two seaters and the other for single
seaters

and private two-place gliders. Both queues operate on a first-come, first

served basis. We tried using two winches but found little benefit from
that as in practice the main delay is from ab initio and trial flight
briefings: if both queues contain gliders and an instructor is busy
briefing, the single seat line gets launched until he's ready.

Why would a glider that is not ready to launch be in
the launch queue? Seems odd to me, but hey, I'm from
the Colonies, so I think simple thoughts.

Jim Beckman

On Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:27:22 +0000, Jim Beckman wrote:

Why would a glider that is not ready to launch be in the launch queue?

Some instructors seem to like briefing in the launch queue no matter what
the CFI says about the practise, though launch line delays are a more
common problem with trial flights: some pax just take a lot of time to
get into the glider, get strapped in and be ready to go, particularly if
you need ballast weights and/or need to put cushions or the ASK21
adjustable backrest into the glider.

The above palaver tends to happen near the front of the queue because we
tend not to put bodies into aircraft until they're number 2 or 3 in the
winch queue. Unlike an aero tow queue, its more important to keep moving
gliders forward as those in front of them launch. Our closest winch queue
is no more that 20-30m out from the launch point bus and we won't launch
a glider that isn't level with the front of the bus. This prevents a wing-
drop and the resultant swing and release from sling-shotting the glider
into the bus or any people standing by it.


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