U.S. glider operations fuel prices

On Tuesday, November 20, 2012 11:30:04 AM UTC-7, soarin wrote:
I recently read a a blurb on the SSA home page that claims the following.



High AVGAS prices ($6-$13/gal currently) are hurting aero tow operations.

Ultimately, US soaring will have to adopt fuel efficient winch launch to

keep the sport affordable



Locally here in Ca we currently pay $5.60 per gal 100LL and there is an

airport 20 miles away charging $5.21 per gal. An online search of current

fuel prices shows that throughout the six continental U.S. regions the

average price per gal 100LL is between $5.43 and $5.76. Is anyone aware of

any U.S. fixed glider operations paying $13 per gallon, or for that matter

any fixed operations that are paying in excess of $7?

I don't think anyone is talking about winches replacing 100% of aero tows. Each have their place.

Let's consider training for a moment. With aero tows getting more and more expensive, training tends to proceed with the minimum possible number of tows as instructors try to minimize costs for their students.

We may be paying a price for that in the number of landing accidents with people getting Private licenses with 40 - 60 total landings. (And some licensed pilots going for years with no more than 20 landings a year.)With the low costs of winch launch, instructors can really drill their students on landings and the rest of us can stay sharp.

Yes, it may not be practical to do all training maneuvers from a winch unless you can consistently get over 2000' AGL. However, most of the PP-G PTS maneuvers can easily be done from lower release heights. It isn't likely a training operation will want their students to get certificates with only a winch launch endorsements anyway.

Let's consider training for a moment. With aero tows getting more and more expensive, training tends to proceed with the minimum possible number of tows as instructors try to minimize costs for their students. We may be paying a price for that in the number of landing accidents with people getting Private licenses with 40 - 60 total landings. (And some licensed pilots going for years with no more than 20 landings a year.)With the low costs of winch launch, instructors can really drill their students on landings and the rest of us can stay sharp. Yes, it may not be practical to do all training maneuvers from a winch unless you can consistently get over 2000' AGL. However, most of the PP-G PTS maneuvers can easily be done from lower release heights. It isn't likely a training operation will want their students to get certificates with only a winch launch endorsements anyway.

Let's consider training for a moment.
Our club has attracted two young students (highschool age) solely due to the fact that we can offer a large part of our training on the winch at very low cost.

...and the rest of us can stay sharp.
We are blessed with a very mild climate around here (South Carolina) and we can typically fly almost all year round. The operative word here is 'can'. Since we don't have good thermal conditions in the winter months, nobody in his right mind assembles his glider only to take a 2,000ft aero-tow and to sled-ride it down! Having the winch available, a good number of our members took advantage of it and took a few launches in our Twin now and then, thereby dramatically reducing the 'stupid-season' in the spring-time!

Yes, it may not be practical to do all training maneuvers from a winch unless you can consistently get over 2000' AGL.
Hmmm.... that may be a question of re-structuring the training syllabus. I trained off the winch in Germany all the way to first solo ('A'-badge) and didn't get into aero-towing until the end of my second year of training. A club rule stipulated that a minimum of 70 winch launches had to be made before the first solo (#71-73 were my 'A' flights), so my log-book shows a good number of 4-5 minute long training flights. Our typical release heights were 300m - 350m in our K-13.

It isn't likely a training operation will want their students to get certificates with only a winch launch endorsements anyway.
Agree 100% - I tell our members that the winch is by no means meant to replace the tow plane but rather than enhance and round out the club's offering..

Safe soaring!
U. Neumann

On Sat, 01 Dec 2012 08:37:20 -0800, GM wrote:

Hmmm.... that may be a question of re-structuring the training syllabus.
I trained off the winch in Germany all the way to first solo ('A'-badge)
and didn't get into aero-towing until the end of my second year of
training. A club rule stipulated that a minimum of 70 winch launches had
to be made before the first solo (#71-73 were my 'A' flights), so my
log-book shows a good number of 4-5 minute long training flights. Our
typical release heights were 300m - 350m in our K-13.

Same here. I took 79 winch launches and one aero tow to solo (UK), all
completed within one excellent soaring season. I started in late March,
and went solo toward the end of August. The one aero tow was for
instructor demonstrated spinning. The remainder of my spin training was
off the winch with the aid of thermal climbs. That was happenstance: my
spin training happened to be on days with good thermals.

I didn't get my solo aero-tow signoff until a year after I went solo. I
used my first aero-tow in a Junior to get Silver C duration off a 2000 ft
tow. This was a week before I flew the distance leg off a winch launch in
the same Junior.

It isn't likely a training operation will want their students to get
certificates with only a winch launch endorsements anyway.
Agree 100% - I tell our members that the winch is by no means meant to
replace the tow plane but rather than enhance and round out the club's
offering.

I prefer to go xc off the winch on the grounds that, if I can get away
from 1200 ft I've shown that its likely I can scratch away from a similar
height if I should get low away from home.


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martin@ | Martin Gregorie
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