Winching - Cable danger.

Bill, excellent point!

I have always considered the winch drivers job to be more dangerous than
the
glider pilots. I tell people that each time I reach for the throttle, I
think about the 300 pounds of steel wire that is about to come straight at
me doing 70 MPH.

Steel wire mesh or screen is totally inadequate to protect the driver.
The
winch cab windows should be 3/4" polycarbonate (Lexan) which, I'm told,
will
stop a 9mm bullet fired point blank. Yes, Lexan will get scratched
eventually but it's not that expensive to replace. The rest of the cab
should be at least .125 inch steel sheet.

Spectra will reduce the danger somewhat but the rest of the hardware will
still be there and present the same dangers.

I would prefer a winch cab that is armored, weather tight and air
conditioned.

Bill Daniels


What about chanching the rotation direction of the cable reels, would it
make the lose cable end hitting the ground instead of drivers cabin?

js