My statement was very confusing... what I really meant was without the winch
I think that we will be in troubles down the road for affordable tows....

And in part I do think that we have taken a wrong road with high wing
loading. for example with the Monarch we are able to tow it aloft with 160
lbs of tension at a speed of about 15 mph with a wind down the runway of
about 10 mph. This requires a very small rope and small horsepower.

See the article I posted in the Marske Web site on power requirements for
launching developed by Jim Marske.

http://www.continuo.com/marske/
look under articles for : ultralight design parameters design parameters of
the ultralight glider

But whatever I do think that your idea of developing a winch is a godo idea.
-mat

"A P" wrote in message
...
I also
think that the future of soaring is rather bleak without winch
alternatives.

It's called Aerotow....... and what's wrong with winch? 1500 ft easy with
a
decent field for under 1/3 the price of a 2000 ft tow..... ;-)

AP


"mat Redsell" wrote in message
...

I really think this idea has merit.... but should we also consider
lowering
the wing loading so that the horsepower requirements are much less? I
also
think that the future of soaring is rather bleak without winch
alternatives.