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Life glider hours with winch



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 21st 19, 06:14 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Posts: 1
Default Life glider hours with winch

Hi all.

I listened from some pilots that the glider life hours reduce if you use winch start.

Is that true? I looked for some data about and I did not found.

have a nice day, José.
  #5  
Old March 21st 19, 06:31 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Frank Whiteley
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Posts: 2,099
Default Life glider hours with winch

On Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 11:14:42 AM UTC-6, wrote:
Hi all.

I listened from some pilots that the glider life hours reduce if you use winch start.

Is that true? I looked for some data about and I did not found.

have a nice day, José.


Any life adjustment issues should be in the POH or the maintenance manual. There were adjustment factors on our L-23 for winch launches, flying with the wing tip extensions, solo/dual flight, or for aerobatic flight.

Frank Whiteley
  #6  
Old March 21st 19, 07:52 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
José Ignacio Otero
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Posts: 7
Default Life glider hours with winch

El jueves, 21 de marzo de 2019, 14:31:08 (UTC-3), Frank Whiteley escribió:
On Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 11:14:42 AM UTC-6, wrote:
Hi all.

I listened from some pilots that the glider life hours reduce if you use winch start.

Is that true? I looked for some data about and I did not found.

have a nice day, José.


Any life adjustment issues should be in the POH or the maintenance manual.. There were adjustment factors on our L-23 for winch launches, flying with the wing tip extensions, solo/dual flight, or for aerobatic flight.

Frank Whiteley



Hi Frank,

Thanks for reply, L-23 is an special situation with the AD in the wing roots.

What about K-13, Ka-6, Libelle, Std Austria, Lak-12, Std Cirrus, ASW-20...
  #8  
Old March 21st 19, 08:45 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Martin Gregorie[_6_]
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Posts: 699
Default Life glider hours with winch

On Thu, 21 Mar 2019 11:52:53 -0700, José Ignacio Otero wrote:

El jueves, 21 de marzo de 2019, 14:31:08 (UTC-3), Frank Whiteley
escribió:
On Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 11:14:42 AM UTC-6,
wrote:
Hi all.

I listened from some pilots that the glider life hours reduce if you
use winch start.

Is that true? I looked for some data about and I did not found.

have a nice day, José.


Any life adjustment issues should be in the POH or the maintenance
manual. There were adjustment factors on our L-23 for winch launches,
flying with the wing tip extensions, solo/dual flight, or for aerobatic
flight.

Frank Whiteley



Hi Frank,

Thanks for reply, L-23 is an special situation with the AD in the wing
roots.

What about K-13, Ka-6, Libelle, Std Austria, Lak-12, Std Cirrus,
ASW-20...


There is nothing my Std Libelle's POH about launch method affecting
airframe lifetime. AFAIK they are fitted as standard with both CG and
nose hooks. Mine was, and so are the other two others based at the club.
Re-life inspection is at 3000 hours regardless of launch method.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org
  #10  
Old March 22nd 19, 03:02 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Bob Kuykendall
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Posts: 1,345
Default Life glider hours with winch

What I've read is that the bending forces applied to the wings and tail during a typical winch launch are roughly equivalent to 3.5g flight. That is comfortably below the load limit of every common glider. However, it is high enough that repeated launches will eventually shorten the service life of an aluminum glider. The Blanik designers understood this very well, and the original service documentation was quite explicit about logging operations carefully so the service life could be tracked. Unfortunately, most operators did not do so.

Normal winching operations probably has no appreciable effect on the composite parts of a composite glider. However, I believe it was BGA analysis of repeated winch launch stresses that initiated the service bulletin on the steel end-pins ("spigots") on Grob 102, 103 and 109 series sailplanes.

As for wood sailplanes, my concern would mostly be around the age and condition of the structure, since many wood gliders are now half a century old. Since you don't feel the added stresses of winch launching the way you feel the g of vertical acceleration, it would be easy to get into the gray area between what the structure was originally built to sustain, and what it can actually sustain after fifty years of operation, repairs, and deterioration.

--Bob K.
 




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