"BAToulson" wrote in message
...
In article , "John
Giddy"
writes:

See if you can find a contact at "The Soaring Centre", Husbands
Bosworth in UK.
Some years ago they built their own 4-drum winch. I saw it a few years
ago, and it was a most impressive machine.

True, we do have a very good winch. It is four drum and was designed by
engineers and largely built by a retired member and his son who knew what
they
were doing, but to a very high standard, and is not dissimilar to the van
Gelder (which has 6 drums I believe) .

Must be about 10 or 12 years old now and has given excellent service with
the
occasional overhaul. It can launch anything we have including Duo Discus,
Janus, Puchacz and other two seaters with no problem but is on full
throtle
with no wind.

Unfortunately the member (and his son) who built it are no longer
available,
(son now flies Jumbo jets and father is not interested in another project
of
this type). However, we would willingly show you round and our Winch
Master
will no doubt tell you all about our "learning curve".

If you are new to winching I strongly recommend buying a professionally
made
two drum winch, Supercat for example, as I guarantee that, without a clear
blueprint you will never get the engineering right first time and would
waste
many frustrating hours, lots of cash, and end up with an unsatisfactory
product.

Barney
The Soaring Centre
UK
Post some detailed digital images to the winch design group at
yahoogroups.com please.

TIA,

Frank Whiteley