How Many Ways to Launch?

Speaking of launches, any luck looking into those tow rings, Gary?

Paul


"goneill" wrote in message
...
Hillside launch (rolling - only good for smaller/lighter
ships)
I have seen a video clip of a jantar 2 rolling off a hill
somewhere in Poland I think, so as long as the hill has the
right shape a rolling launch can launch just about any
glider
gary


"Andy Blackburn" wrote in message
...
At 17:00 26 December 2004, Shawn wrote:
OscarCVox wrote:
OK, I'll bite: name 10 (listing different makes of
tow vehicles or of tow
planes does not count)


Hmm I will try
Autotow
reverse pully auto tow
Winch
winch with winch retrieve
Bungey
Shoulder launch
aerotow
Horse tow ( I know it sounds daft but I believe that
they used a horse and a
tow rope at Dunstable pre war)

Now i am stuck. Any others?


Balloon drop. Seen it for hang gliders
Helicopter drop (tail first-done in airshows)
Rocket launch
Aircraft drop-like Space Ship 1, X-n
Pay-out winch
Catapult? (How much altitude could you get off the
deck of a carrier?)


Not sure what a shoulder launch is - with my ship it
would be tough on the old rotator cuff. I think a
Navy cat would likely rip the whole tow hook mechanism
right out of the fuselage.

How about:
Hillside launch (rolling - only good for smaller/lighter
ships)
Bungee launch (requires being on a hill)
Self-launch (Eric's favorite)
Foot launch (for ultralights)
Kite launch (needs a lot of wind and some form of mental
defect on the part of all concerned)
Tornado launch (typical in central and southern US
- always with bad results)

reductio ad absurdum...

9B

OscarCVox wrote:
OK, I'll bite: name 10 (listing different makes of tow vehicles or of tow
planes does not count)


Hmm I will try
Autotow
reverse pully auto tow
Winch
winch with winch retrieve
Bungey
Shoulder launch
aerotow
Horse tow ( I know it sounds daft but I believe that they used a horse and a
tow rope at Dunstable pre war)

Now i am stuck. Any others?

Me162 was rocket launched glider. (So are Starship one and the Space Shuttles)
Kiting with no ground run - (know of one inadvertent launch this way.)
Self launch with internal combustion (piston reciprocating and turbine)

Aircraft Carrier Tow - just remembered, honest, I've
seen the photo's.

At 09:00 27 December 2004, Mike Lindsay wrote:
In article , Shawn writes
OscarCVox wrote:
OK, I'll bite: name 10 (listing different makes of
tow vehicles or of tow
planes does not count)


Hmm I will try
Autotow
reverse pully auto tow
Winch
winch with winch retrieve
Bungey
Shoulder launch
aerotow
Horse tow ( I know it sounds daft but I believe that
they used a horse and a
tow rope at Dunstable pre war)

Now i am stuck. Any others?


Balloon drop. Seen it for hang gliders
Helicopter drop (tail first-done in airshows)
Rocket launch
Aircraft drop-like Space Ship 1, X-n
Pay-out winch
Catapult? (How much altitude could you get off the
deck of a carrier?)

Gravity rope launch. AFAIK this has never been tried.

You need a disused mine shaft at one end of the runway,
you set up a
great big pulley over it. You run a cable from the
other end of the
runway, over the pulley and attach it to a weight.

Yo let the weight go and as it falls it pulls the glider
into the air.
Then you heave the weight up again.

There is a club in the west of England that has several
disused tin
mines nearby. Hmm.

--
Mike Lindsay

Shawn wrote:

OscarCVox wrote:
OK, I'll bite: name 10 (listing different makes of tow vehicles or of tow
planes does not count)


Hmm I will try
Autotow
reverse pully auto tow
Winch
winch with winch retrieve
Bungey
Shoulder launch
aerotow
Horse tow ( I know it sounds daft but I believe that they used a horse
and a tow rope at Dunstable pre war)

Now i am stuck. Any others?


Balloon drop. Seen it for hang gliders
Helicopter drop (tail first-done in airshows)
Rocket launch
Aircraft drop-like Space Ship 1, X-n
Pay-out winch
Catapult? (How much altitude could you get off the deck of a carrier?)

There was an article in S & G some years ago concerning some experiments
done by the Fleet Air Arm just after WWII looking at airflows around
aircraft carriers. IIRC they used a Slingsby Tutor modified with chord
extensions to give an extremely low stalling speed: this was tethered, with
pilot in, and became airborne easily behind a ship steaming into wind.

Not sure if this counts.

Chris Rollings wrote:

I think the horse at Dunstable was only used to pull
gliders to the top of the (300 feet or so) hill, where
they were bungee launched.


The version I heard may be a bit harder to substantiate but is rather more
colourful.

Apparently the horse was used to provide the power to extend the bungee.

The system apparently worked well until the occasion when the bungee broke
while under almost full tension.

The horse immediately went into a full gallop towards the horizon and was
never seen again.

"Andy Blackburn" wrote in message
...
I believe the Wright brothers used a falling weight
tied to a pulley system -- 22


Also the proposed launch system for the "Colditz Cock" -- bathtub down a
chimney launch.

Tim Ward

"Shawn" sdotherecurry@bresnananotherdotnet wrote in message
...
OscarCVox wrote:
OK, I'll bite: name 10 (listing different makes of tow vehicles or of
tow
planes does not count)


Hmm I will try
Autotow
reverse pully auto tow
Winch
winch with winch retrieve
Bungey
Shoulder launch
aerotow
Horse tow ( I know it sounds daft but I believe that they used a horse
and a
tow rope at Dunstable pre war)

Now i am stuck. Any others?


Balloon drop. Seen it for hang gliders
Helicopter drop (tail first-done in airshows)
Rocket launch
Aircraft drop-like Space Ship 1, X-n
Pay-out winch
Catapult? (How much altitude could you get off the deck of a carrier?)

Helicopter tow has also been done (without the drop bit).

Crane drops have been done a couple of times, but the gliders weren't rigged
so the resulting flight was short and pilotless. At least one resulted in a
water landing. I seem to recall another pitched off the top of the
containers in a 'storm launch'.;^)

I seem to recall pictures of horse tows of Primary gliders from a book I've
thumbed through. One of John Campbell's IIRC.

Here's one unsuccessful hybrid horse/bungee attempt
http://www.aerofiles.com/memories.html
There's are accounts of horse tows of the Baby Albatross here
http://www.twitt.org/MitchellHistory.html

Frank Whiteley

Vorsanger1 wrote:
Actually, when I first posted and asked about naming 10 ways to launch, I was
hoping to get some *practical* methods applicable to sailplanes. The proposed
solutions so far remind me of the old joke for the definition of a consultant:
a fellow who knows 37 positions for sex, but does not have a girlfriend of his
own.

Cheers, Charles

Aw Charles that's cruel.
(Still no towplane in Salida, but two prospects-at the moment.)

Shawn

At 14:30 27 December 2004, Richard Brisbourne wrote:
Chris Rollings wrote:

I think the horse at Dunstable was only used to pull
gliders to the top of the (300 feet or so) hill, where
they were bungee launched.


The version I heard may be a bit harder to substantiate
but is rather more
colourful.

Apparently the horse was used to provide the power
to extend the bungee.

The system apparently worked well until the occasion
when the bungee broke
while under almost full tension.

The horse immediately went into a full gallop towards
the horizon and was
never seen again.

You wouldn't be, either, if the bungee broke at the
glider end and it whacked your butt!

that was a Paul Simon reference
"Vorsanger1" wrote in message
...
"There must be fifty ways.." says Bob K.

OK, I'll bite: name 10 (listing different makes of tow vehicles or of tow
planes does not count)

Cheers, Charles