Seminole Lake Glider Port.

[[email protected]]

I wonder if someone made a low ball offer for SLGP right now how quickly Mihai would grab it? This could go on for some time to come, no one really knows. I assume that he was "not on the property" during the Seniors as advertised. I guess the excuse will be that the flight restrictions implemented by DONALD interfered with his movement. Or maybe not?

Walt Connelly
Happy Helicopter Pilot

[[email protected]]

Hi Walt, I gotta tell ya, at this point, I really don’t care if that guy still owns seminole or sells it, just as long as we have some places to get a tow lol. Right now with this lockdown I wonder if some of the last remaining commercial glider ops are going to end up closing their doors permanently. Its kind of a scary scene.

The rich guys will tell us to just get a aux powered glider, but some of us are just not into that option either due to finances or due to a love for simple classic machines. I guess I may need to get my auto tow rig put back together.
Dan

[Dan Marotta]

Dan,

What's your auto tow rig like?Â* I've done it with a straight 1,000 foot
rope with a long runway, and with a pulley on a shorter runway.Â* I seem
to recall they use a straight 1,800' rope on the dry lake bed south of
Las Vegas.Â* Made 3 trips out there, great times!

Dan

On 4/2/2020 10:31 AM, wrote:
> Hi Walt, I gotta tell ya, at this point, I really don’t care if that guy still owns seminole or sells it, just as long as we have some places to get a tow lol. Right now with this lockdown I wonder if some of the last remaining commercial glider ops are going to end up closing their doors permanently. Its kind of a scary scene.
>
> The rich guys will tell us to just get a aux powered glider, but some of us are just not into that option either due to finances or due to a love for simple classic machines. I guess I may need to get my auto tow rig put back together.
> Dan

--
Dan, 5J

[[email protected]]

Ive got 1800 ft of spectra and a schweizer towhook mounted on a trailer reciever. The part I need to build is an electric reel for retreaving the line.
Dan

[John Foster]

On Thursday, April 2, 2020 at 11:33:19 AM UTC-6, wrote:
> Ive got 1800 ft of spectra and a schweizer towhook mounted on a trailer reciever. The part I need to build is an electric reel for retreaving the line.
> Dan

How high do you get with that rig, Dan? I'm interested. I've been pondering a design for a pulley that can be mounted to a trailer hitch receiver to do reverse auto tows. I'm considering a 4,500' length of Dyneema to be used on our 4,800' runway, but I also need to get signed off for ground launches first as well.

[[email protected]]

Only place Ive used it is on the big dry lakes in southern NV. There with miles to run alway get above 1200ft agl. I have been leery of the pulley n reverse pully setups,try to keep things dirt simple.
Dan

[Bob Youngblood]

On Thursday, April 2, 2020 at 12:10:51 PM UTC-4, wrote:
> I wonder if someone made a low ball offer for SLGP right now how quickly Mihai would grab it? This could go on for some time to come, no one really knows. I assume that he was "not on the property" during the Seniors as advertised. I guess the excuse will be that the flight restrictions implemented by DONALD interfered with his movement. Or maybe not?
>
> Walt Connelly
> Happy Helicopter Pilot

Could this be the Romanian fire sale of 2020 ?

[Dan Marotta]

I remember getting around 1,300' using an 1.800' straight rope, but that
was on a dry lake bed with practically unlimited distance for the tow
car.Â* My pulley tow had the pulley attached to the back of the tow car.
HERE
<https://www.dropbox.com/s/k9a4v2wbg9fok9r/Ground%20Launch.mp4?dl=0> is
raw video of me in my LS-6 during shooting for a program aired on ESPN
back in the 90s.Â* I got a bit enthusiastic near the top of the climb
causing the tug to lose traction.Â* The passenger in the Jeep was Emerson
Fittipaldi, winner of the Indianapolis 500.Â* He was the host of the
show.Â* The opening scene is not me, it's a couple of our members doing a
low pass for the show.

On 4/2/2020 12:11 PM, John Foster wrote:
> On Thursday, April 2, 2020 at 11:33:19 AM UTC-6, wrote:
>> Ive got 1800 ft of spectra and a schweizer towhook mounted on a trailer reciever. The part I need to build is an electric reel for retreaving the line.
>> Dan
> How high do you get with that rig, Dan? I'm interested. I've been pondering a design for a pulley that can be mounted to a trailer hitch receiver to do reverse auto tows. I'm considering a 4,500' length of Dyneema to be used on our 4,800' runway, but I also need to get signed off for ground launches first as well.

--
Dan, 5J

[Waveguru]

My pay out winch works very well.

https://youtu.be/OWPbB2hxPKo

Boggs

[Mike N.]

�cool stuff

[Bob Youngblood]

On Thursday, April 2, 2020 at 7:18:02 PM UTC-4, Dan Marotta wrote:
> I remember getting around 1,300' using an 1.800' straight rope, but
> that was on a dry lake bed with practically unlimited distance for
> the tow car.Â* My pulley tow had the pulley attached to the back of
> the tow car.Â* HERE
> is raw video of me in my LS-6 during shooting for a program aired on
> ESPN back in the 90s.Â* I got a bit enthusiastic near the top of the
> climb causing the tug to lose traction.Â* The passenger in the Jeep
> was Emerson Fittipaldi, winner of the Indianapolis 500.Â* He was the
> host of the show.Â* The opening scene is not me, it's a couple of our
> members doing a low pass for the show.
> We did the same thing back in the late 70's in Miami at the old Kendall Gliderport. The tow vehicle was an old station wagon and we were able to get our auto tow rating back in the day when it was a rating instead of endorsement.
>
>
>
> On 4/2/2020 12:11 PM, John Foster
> wrote:
>
>
>
> On Thursday, April 2, 2020 at 11:33:19 AM UTC-6, wrote:
>
>
> Ive got 1800 ft of spectra and a schweizer towhook mounted on a trailer reciever. The part I need to build is an electric reel for retreaving the line.
> Dan
>
>
> How high do you get with that rig, Dan? I'm interested. I've been pondering a design for a pulley that can be mounted to a trailer hitch receiver to do reverse auto tows. I'm considering a 4,500' length of Dyneema to be used on our 4,800' runway, but I also need to get signed off for ground launches first as well.
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Dan, 5J

[son_of_flubber]

Does Florida's April 3's stay-at-home order apply to people who want to launch their gliders at Seminole Lakes?

[Marc V]

> Does Florida's April 3's stay-at-home order apply to people who want to launch their gliders at Seminole Lakes?

Based on the following information I cut and pasted from the actual order section 3 II, it appears there is no issue at this time for the gliderport to remain open to pilots with aircraft as long as all adhere to the "social distancing guidelines"

Section 3. Essential Activities
A. For purposes of this Order and the conduct it limits, "essential activities" means and encompasses the following:
1. Attending religious services conducted in churches, synagogues and houses
of worship; and
11. Participating in recreational activities (consistent with social distancing guidelines) such as walking, biking, hiking, fishing, hunting, running, or swimming;

[Charlie M. (UH & 002 owner/pilot)]

I am not "anti religious", but....packing a bunch of peeps together for ANY reason across the globe just seems stupid....

My opinion.....

[Rich Owen[_2_]]

Good answer Marc. That is the way we interpreted it also. Soaring is like running, swimming and any other outdoor activity that can use social distancing to keep people safe. But if you share aircraft, like in a partnership, everyone needs to throughly wipe down the ship so all surfaces you touched are cleaned. You can mitigate this by wearing gloves when you pull out and stage ships. If it’s your own ship, that eliminates every issue except hook up. I wear gloves for that and remove them before getting in cockpit. Please stay away from the office and hanging around the tow pilot. Pay your bill over the phone. Thank you for everyone’s patience, we will be back training when it is safe to do so. 😀�

[[email protected]]

On Friday, April 3, 2020 at 5:54:17 PM UTC+1, Rich Owen wrote:
> Good answer Marc. That is the way we interpreted it also. Soaring is like running, swimming and any other outdoor activity that can use social distancing to keep people safe. But if you share aircraft, like in a partnership, everyone needs to throughly wipe down the ship so all surfaces you touched are cleaned. You can mitigate this by wearing gloves when you pull out and stage ships. If it’s your own ship, that eliminates every issue except hook up. I wear gloves for that and remove them before getting in cockpit. Please stay away from the office and hanging around the tow pilot. Pay your bill over the phone. Thank you for everyone’s patience, we will be back training when it is safe to do so. 😀�

If done sedulously that takes care of contact transmission but you still have to maintain strict person to person physical distancing. The evidence as regards aerosol (as distinct from droplet) spread is all heading in the one direction and it isn't for the better.

[Mike N.]

That's probably debatable.
Currently you can still go boating where I am. Obviously by yourself or with persons you are already in contact with.

Gliding is even more isolated. Of course this has been discussed ad nauseam here lately.

T.B.S.S. has shut down operations.

I'd like to keep flying. I've already commented I think some of these shut downs are overreaching.

That being said I am cool with sitting things out for a couple of weeks.

However we need to accept that this horrible disease is in the wild and we will have to deal with it permanently. I am hoping and praying for a viable vaccine. However we cannot shut down the country like this through the coming months. It's just too much. I'll risk sounding crass by stating that at some point in a "war" you have to accept the fact that there will be casualties, and then try to continue living life.

[Bob Youngblood]

On Friday, April 3, 2020 at 10:02:29 AM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
> Does Florida's April 3's stay-at-home order apply to people who want to launch their gliders at Seminole Lakes?

I really do not know the answer to that, better speak to a lawyer about liability. I will be flying off my own strip with my own towplane. I have invited a couple others to join the group.

[WB]

My club, Southern Eagles (Butler, Georgia, USA) got it’s start doing ground launch with an old LTD and a truck wheel pulley mounted to a trailer hitch. 4500 feet of dacron rope and a 5000’ runway got our Ka-7 to 1600 or more if there was some headwind. The beauty of the pulley launch was the 2:1 mechanical advantage. Acceleration on launch was very rapid like a winch and the tow car needed to go no faster than 30 mph at most (we usually hit maybe 28 mph in no wind). Low vehicle speed meant we could even operate off dirt. Sometimes got single seaters to over 2000 if we had a bit of wind on the nose. We still have the pulley and Tim McGowin recently bought 4000 feet of dyneema. We gonna get back into the ground launch biz. Hey Dan, maybe we come up Sylacauga way and do some ground launch with y’all after all this social distancing is over.

[2G]

On Thursday, April 2, 2020 at 5:42:15 PM UTC-7, Waveguru wrote:
> My pay out winch works very well.
>
> https://youtu.be/OWPbB2hxPKo
>
> Boggs

Looks like this was shot on the Alvord Desert - how much distance did the launch take and what speed was attained? How do you control the payout? Is the reel motor driven for retrieval?

[Waveguru]

Hi Tom. It takes a couple of miles and we limit the tow height to 2500ft. The truck drives anywhere from around 50-65mph depending on the wind. When doing these launches, you don't want the glider to go too fast, about 10 to 15mph over stall is best. The tension on the line is controlled by the guy in the back. There is a disc brake on the drum and we have a screw adjustment on the master cylinder and a pressure gauge. The retrieve motor is a 6hp Honda that has a centrifical clutch. The engine is at idle during the climb, and then the guy in the back revs up the motor when the glider releases. Here is a launch from the truck end?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWPbB2hxPKo&t=66s

There are several more videos of launches on this page. You have to dig around a little.

https://www.youtube.com/user/WAVEGURU/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid

Boggs