Overspeeding on winch launches

On Mon, 06 Nov 2017 16:33:03 -0800, waremark wrote:

The correct weak link should prevent any glider from suffering
structural failure, and probably does. But has anyone ever heard of any
accident caused by exceeding a placarded maximum launch speed?

Not that I've heard of, but that's pretty much a direct quote from any of
the instructors at GRL - especially w.r.t. the Puchacz.

I tend to apply it pretty rigidly to my Libelle because she's an old
lady, 48 this year, and I feel that I should be kind to her.

Actually, Libelles would appear to have a better protection than the weak
link: I was at Eden Soaring at the end of September, where pole-bending
is pretty much de rigeur thanks to a somewhat short field (940m winch to
launchpoint) and the need to get to the hill, 2.5 km away, at least 900ft
above the airfield, so you hear words from the instructor if you're
climbing out at less than 45 degrees during a site check in their K13.
Anyway, I soon found out that doing the same in my Libelle tends to back
release a little before I'd normally pull the bung and certainly before
the weak link went. They have good winch drivers: good brisk acceleration
at the start and spot on 65 kts in the top half of the launch.


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