Ground launch and the incremental vanishing of soaring

"Greg Arnold" wrote in message
news:zIJ1c.12165$Zp.12091@fed1read07...
Marc Ramsey wrote:

F.L. Whiteley wrote:
Why PASCO or RESCO don't own/operate winches is beyond me.

I can't speak for RESCO, but I guess I can for PASCO. We are
essentially an educational and promotional organization, so we aren't in
a position to actually operate anything. We've had enough problems
figuring out how to manage the set of scales we keep around for Region
11 contest use.

Likewise for RESCO, except it does't even have a pair of scales.


Now, if anyone wants to talk about getting a group together and
building/buying a modern winch for use in Region 11, talk to me...

Marc
Winch launching would be 'real' educational;^)

Does PASCO still operate an oxygen cart for wave camps?

Frank

F.L. Whiteley wrote:
Winch launching would be 'real' educational;^)

That it would be...

Does PASCO still operate an oxygen cart for wave camps?

No, the oxygen cart is long gone, along with the PASCO wave camps.
There is plenty of oxygen (and tows) available from the two FBOs at
Minden, year round.

Marc

"Marc Ramsey" wrote in message
om...
F.L. Whiteley wrote:
Winch launching would be 'real' educational;^)

That it would be...

Does PASCO still operate an oxygen cart for wave camps?

No, the oxygen cart is long gone, along with the PASCO wave camps.
There is plenty of oxygen (and tows) available from the two FBOs at
Minden, year round.

Marc

Glad I still have my rather ragged 1984 PASCO Wave Camp T-Shirt then.

Frank

In article ,
Larry Pardue wrote:

I keep a reel in the back of my Ford Escape that has the 1500 foot launch
rope on it. After a launch the rope is reeled in by an electric motor on
the reel. Very tidy and easy. I average around 1,200 feet on the very long
ramp at Hobbs with a PW-5. Rarely do I have to take a relight but when I do
I feel like I can stand the 35 cents or so it costs to take another one.
Those $40 contest tows are quite a shock for me.

I am learning more about auto-launch, and it sounds fantastic.
And the lighter gliders are seeming more and more appealing
as I learn more. A 155# or even 300# glider with a yuppie
at 170# is gonna accelerate much better, perhaps well enough
to simply winch launch off a truck (with a winch mounted in the
back).

I've heard numbers of 100-300# of tension for the light gliders
on winch or auto tow. Does this sound about right?
This certainly meshes with the numbers I would expect...
--

------------+
Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA

"Mark James Boyd" wrote in message
news:404cea0d$1@darkstar...
In article ,
Larry Pardue wrote:

I keep a reel in the back of my Ford Escape that has the 1500 foot
launch
rope on it. After a launch the rope is reeled in by an electric motor
on
the reel. Very tidy and easy. I average around 1,200 feet on the very
long
ramp at Hobbs with a PW-5. Rarely do I have to take a relight but when
I do
I feel like I can stand the 35 cents or so it costs to take another
one.
Those $40 contest tows are quite a shock for me.

I am learning more about auto-launch, and it sounds fantastic.
And the lighter gliders are seeming more and more appealing
as I learn more. A 155# or even 300# glider with a yuppie
at 170# is gonna accelerate much better, perhaps well enough
to simply winch launch off a truck (with a winch mounted in the
back).

I've heard numbers of 100-300# of tension for the light gliders
on winch or auto tow. Does this sound about right?
This certainly meshes with the numbers I would expect...
--

------------+
Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA

The maximum rope tension is usually determined by the glider maker as stated
in the ground launch weak link strength specification. Typically max gross
weight times 1.2 to 1.5. Check your POH. That said, the typical line
tension at the glider is roughly equal to the GW for an optimum launch.

It's been my experience that smaller gliders don't do as well as larger
gliders on ground launch. Maybe it has something to do with Reynolds
numbers or maybe the weight of the cable as a percentage of the glider's
gross weight.

Bill Daniels