Winch Launching in US

[john hawkins]

I have recently started gliding again after a long absense. I no longer have
funds to support my power plane habit and am soaring as less expensive means
of getting airborne. I am surprised to see that winch tows in the USA are
still almost non existant. Why not. Surely a winch is much cheaper than a
tow plane. I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the
price!

I would appreciate readers of the new group to educate me.

[Frank Whiteley]

On Jun 5, 8:22*am, "john hawkins" > wrote:
> I have recently started gliding again after a long absense. I no longer have
> funds to support my power plane habit and am soaring as less expensive means
> of getting airborne. I am surprised to see that winch tows in the USA are
> still almost non existant. Why not. Surely a winch is much cheaper than a
> tow plane. I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the
> price!
>
> I would appreciate readers of the new group to educate me.

Presuming you're the NC Hawkins, winching is being done in Florida and
South Carolina. There's some auto tow also done in South Carolina,
but privately. I've previously suggested to a member of NCSA at
Harnett County Regional that they consider winching (which I believe
the club did at another location in their past). There's space and it
can be done safely as at municipal/public airports in MN, TX, OK, CO,
NV, CA, NY, and soon in WA. There's also winching at clubs in LA, PA,
AZ, and auto tow in some other places.

Frank Whiteley

[Tuno]

In Arizona, Prescott Soaring Society uses a winch exclusively, and
Tucson Soaring Club has been working on getting one operational for a
year or two now.

The El Paso Soaring Society also has a winch (fairly new I think) but
they don't yet use it as much as their tow plane.

So there seems to be a trend in the direction of more winch usage,
albeit very slow. I hope it speeds up.

2NO

[vic20owner]

> Presuming you're the NC Hawkins, winching is being done in Florida and
> South Carolina. There's some auto tow also done in South Carolina,
> but privately. I've previously suggested to a member of NCSA at
> Harnett County Regional that they consider winching (which I believe
> the club did at another location in their past). There's space and it
> can be done safely as at municipal/public airports in MN, TX, OK, CO,
> NV, CA, NY, and soon in WA. There's also winching at clubs in LA, PA,
> AZ, and auto tow in some other places.
>
> Frank Whiteley

Hi Frank, where in Florida are the winch launches?

Thanks!
tom

[Frank Whiteley]

On Jun 5, 1:22*pm, vic20owner > wrote:
> > Presuming you're the NC Hawkins, winching is being done in Florida and
> > South Carolina. *There's some auto tow also done in South Carolina,
> > but privately. *I've previously suggested to a member of NCSA at
> > Harnett County Regional that they consider winching (which I believe
> > the club did at another location in their past). *There's space and it
> > can be done safely as at municipal/public airports in MN, TX, OK, CO,
> > NV, CA, NY, and soon in WA. *There's also winching at clubs in LA, PA,
> > AZ, and auto tow in some other places.
>
> > Frank Whiteley
>
> Hi Frank, where in Florida are the winch launches?
>
> Thanks!
> tom

oops, my bad, they were discussing it, but perhaps haven't initiated
operations yet.

Everglades Soaring Club was certainly looking into it.

Maybe Mike Schumann will update.

Frank

[Frank Whiteley]

On Jun 5, 2:49*pm, Frank Whiteley > wrote:
> On Jun 5, 1:22*pm, vic20owner > wrote:
>
> > > Presuming you're the NC Hawkins, winching is being done in Florida and
> > > South Carolina. *There's some auto tow also done in South Carolina,
> > > but privately. *I've previously suggested to a member of NCSA at
> > > Harnett County Regional that they consider winching (which I believe
> > > the club did at another location in their past). *There's space and it
> > > can be done safely as at municipal/public airports in MN, TX, OK, CO,
> > > NV, CA, NY, and soon in WA. *There's also winching at clubs in LA, PA,
> > > AZ, and auto tow in some other places.
>
> > > Frank Whiteley
>
> > Hi Frank, where in Florida are the winch launches?
>
> > Thanks!
> > tom
>
> oops, my bad, they were discussing it, but perhaps haven't initiated
> operations yet.
>
> Everglades Soaring Club was certainly looking into it.
>
> Maybe Mike Schumann will update.
>
> Frank

Mike reports that one of the northern operations may operate in
Florida next winter for a couple of months. Would be a good
opportunity to get some training and a sign-off and keep the rust off.

Frank

[Bret]

>I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the
> price!


So how much does a the new winch you were looking at cost?

Looks like there are two groups discussing how make one:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/winchdesign/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/winchengineer/


What does a winch tow usually cost?

[Bret]

On Jun 6, 11:33*am, Bret > wrote:
> >I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the
> > price!
>
> So how much does a the new winch you were looking at cost?
>
> Looks like there are two groups discussing how make one:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/winchdesign/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/winchengineer/
>
> What does a winch tow usually cost?

Update: only groups.yahoo.com/group/winchdesign is for making your
own.

groups.yahoo.com/group/winchengineer/ is about modern commercial
winches.


> the club did at another location in their past). There's space and it
> can be done safely as at municipal/public airports in MN, TX, OK, CO,
> NV, CA, NY, and soon in WA.

Logan UT Cache Valley Soaring is hoping to get their old winch
running.

[[email protected]]

On 5 June, 15:22, "john hawkins" > wrote:
> I have recently started gliding again after a long absense. I no longer have
> funds to support my power plane habit and am soaring as less expensive means
> of getting airborne. I am surprised to see that winch tows in the USA are
> still almost non existant. Why not. Surely a winch is much cheaper than a
> tow plane. I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the
> price!
>
> I would appreciate readers of the new group to educate me.

There is some interest

[[email protected]]

On 5 June, 15:22, "john hawkins" > wrote:
> I have recently started gliding again after a long absense. I no longer have
> funds to support my power plane habit and am soaring as less expensive means
> of getting airborne. I am surprised to see that winch tows in the USA are
> still almost non existant. Why not. Surely a winch is much cheaper than a
> tow plane. I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the
> price!
>
> I would appreciate readers of the new group to educate me.

There is some interest in winch launching in the US, but instead of
just importing or copying some well proven European designs, the
leading lights decided to build their own 'superwinches' which are
still under development with no guarantee that they will be any better
or safer! In fact so far the reverse seems to be true.

[Frank Whiteley]

On Jun 9, 4:06*pm, wrote:
> On 5 June, 15:22, "john hawkins" > wrote:
>
> > I have recently started gliding again after a long absense. I no longer have
> > funds to support my power plane habit and am soaring as less expensive means
> > of getting airborne. I am surprised to see that winch tows in the USA are
> > still almost non existant. Why not. Surely a winch is much cheaper than a
> > tow plane. I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the
> > price!
>
> > I would appreciate readers of the new group to educate me.
>
> There is some interest in winch launching in the US, but instead of
> just importing or copying some well proven European designs, the
> leading lights decided to build their own 'superwinches' which are
> still under development with no guarantee that they will be any better
> or safer! In fact so far the reverse seems to be true.

You paint with a rather broad brush, Del boy. There are two
commercial winch development projects in the US, one being a Dutch
collaboration. To date, established, active winching has little or
nothing to do with either project. Forgot to add MI and (soon) LA to
the states where winching are current activities. Note there are
multiple winch sites in some of the previously mentioned states also.

Frank Whiteley

[[email protected]]

On 10 June, 05:59, Frank Whiteley > wrote:
> On Jun 9, 4:06*pm, wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 5 June, 15:22, "john hawkins" > wrote:
>
> > > I have recently started gliding again after a long absense. I no longer have
> > > funds to support my power plane habit and am soaring as less expensive means
> > > of getting airborne. I am surprised to see that winch tows in the USA are
> > > still almost non existant. Why not. Surely a winch is much cheaper than a
> > > tow plane. I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the
> > > price!
>
> > > I would appreciate readers of the new group to educate me.
>
> > There is some interest in winch launching in the US, but instead of
> > just importing or copying some well proven European designs, the
> > leading lights decided to build their own 'superwinches' which are
> > still under development with no guarantee that they will be any better
> > or safer! In fact so far the reverse seems to be true.
>
> You paint with a rather broad brush, Del boy. *There are two
> commercial winch development projects in the US, one being a Dutch
> collaboration. *To date, established, active winching has little or
> nothing to do with either project. *Forgot to add MI and (soon) LA to
> the states where winching are current activities. *Note there are
> multiple winch sites in some of the previously mentioned states also.
>
> Frank Whiteley- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Yes you are quite right, but winch launching gliders still seems to be
a very minority activity in the States, as compared with Europe where
about two-thirds of all glider launches are by winch and most gliding
clubs own at least one winch.

Derek Copeland

P.S. rec.aviation soaring still doesn't seem to be working on GP
Net!!!!