Re: Glider Ride

[BTIZ]

Brian.. welcome to soaring, you can also track soaring events on
rec.aviation.soaring news group.

www.ssa.org

BT


"Brian Sponcil" > wrote in message
...
> As a favor to our local A&P (he was also paying me) I drove down to
> Florida to pick up a glider tail section from Barry Aviation
> (http://www.barryaviation.com/). The nice folks there decided that
> after a 20+ hour drive I definitely needed to go soaring.
>
> In ten years of flying planes I've gotten into the habit of only going
> up when I have a destination in mind. Maybe I was just tired of driving
> but flying that glider brought back all of the thrill and satisfaction
> of floating in the air for its own sake.
>
> If you haven't done it, I'd put it on your list of things to try, if for
> no other reason than to experience how quiet flying can actually be.
>
> I think I might try an ultralight next....
>
>
> -Brian
> Iowa City, IA
> N33431
>

[Dylan Smith]

On Wed, 16 Jul 2003 11:40:50 -0500, Brian Sponcil > wrote:
>If you haven't done it, I'd put it on your list of things to try, if for
>no other reason than to experience how quiet flying can actually be.

I had my first winch-launch solo last Saturday (I already have a glider
rating, but aero tow only until I joined the Andreas Glider Club).

I stayed up for half an hour from a launch which only got me to 1200 feet.
The winch gives you only about 2 minutes to find something that's working.
I only had to come down as the glider was needed for the next person.

I still felt satisfied from that flight the next day. In fact, I still
have a feeling of satisfaction about it now! There's not much that beats
soaring for pure joy of flying.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

[Todd Pattist]

"Montblack" > wrote:

>Any photos out there of a glider winch launcher? Is it a vehicle launching
>thingy or a Wright Brothers kind of contraption?

They vary a lot. Most use a vehicle engine to turn from one
to six (or more) drums with a cable on each. They'll have a
protected operator's cage on the frame. There are diesel,
LP gas, gasoline and electric winches. I've seen converted
vehicles with the drum on the back and trailer versions.

Here's a link that shows a typical modern 2-drum model:

http://www.wolds-gliding.org/launfacl.htm

Note the glider climb angle.
Todd Pattist
(Remove DONTSPAMME from address to email reply.)
___
Make a commitment to learn something from every flight.
Share what you learn.

[Stefan]

Montblack wrote:
>
> Any photos out there of a glider winch launcher? Is it a vehicle launching
> thingy or a Wright Brothers kind of contraption?

There are many different kind of winches, from low-end homebuilt diesel
winches to commercial high-tech electro winches. The most complete
overview I know is
http://www.skylaunch.de/album/index.html

And then there's the ever funny movie
http://www.motorflug.de/movies/glider.mpg
which shows a winch in action. (Caution: 11 MB, but worth every bit.)

Stefan

[Montblack]

(Stefan wrote)
> There are many different kind of winches, from low-end homebuilt diesel
> winches to commercial high-tech electro winches. The most complete
> overview I know is
> http://www.skylaunch.de/album/index.html
>
> And then there's the ever funny movie
> http://www.motorflug.de/movies/glider.mpg
> which shows a winch in action. (Caution: 11 MB, but worth every bit.)

Leave it to the Germans to come up with a myriad of mechanized solutions
:-)

I'm loading the movie now
("I like to watch." Mmm...DSL)

--
Montblack

[Dylan Smith]

On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 15:13:35 -0500, Montblack
> wrote:
>Any photos out there of a glider winch launcher? Is it a vehicle launching
>thingy or a Wright Brothers kind of contraption?

The Wright Brothers kind of contraption is a tow plane :-)

The winch at the Andreas club is on the back of an old 7 ton truck.
The winch machinery itself consists of a Jaguar XJ6 4.2 litre straight
six engine, transmission and final drive, which turns a drum of steel
cable. The winch operator sits in a cage, and has all the Jaguar
controls (switches, gas pedal, brake) and additionally has a handle which
operates a cable cutting guillotine should the cable need to be cut.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"