"Wayne Paul" wrote in message
...

"Bret Ludwig" wrote in message
ups.com...

Wayne Paul wrote:
"Bret Ludwig" wrote in message
oups.com...

As I pointed out, there is more to an airplane than an engine.
Indeed, there are airplanes without engines. We call them
sailplanes.


Yes but they need towing up by an airplane that does.


Bert,

Here is a picture of a homebuilt Schreder HP-16T being launched using
1,500
feet of rope hooked to a pickup truck.

http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP...P/N16VP_6b.jpg

Local area pilots have used this technique at the Nampa, ID and
Ontario,
OR
airports as well as from the Alvord Desert dry lake.


Almost all soaring in the US is done by aero tow.

Winch, vehicle and other methods are not very popular in the US but
more so in Europe.


Winch operation are becoming more popular in the US as fuel and insurance
cost continue to escalate.




I always just assumed that terrain and cost were the determining factors and
that aero tow was mainly used in flat terrain. I would expect that with
hills and a little wind the less costly methods would be more
popular--unless the launch point was in the bottom of a valley.

(This is a subject in which I lack experience, but would like to know much
more.)

Peter