"Mark James Boyd" wrote in message
news:41818c33$1@darkstar...
In article rLfgd.540846$8_6.36371@attbi_s04,

I suspect the density of population in Europe and the relatively
prohibitive comparable cost of aerotow make winches what they are
in Europe. A U.S. winch (esp. a very expensive/nice one) would likely
do best near a very large population and regular ridge/wave lift.

The European population density makes it harder to find the room for glider
strips. We, on the other hand, still have lots of open space by comparison.
A local ridge is nice but there are lots of places where thermal lift can be
contacted well under 1000 feet AGL.

I'm not aware of something like this which is away from (and not under)
"B" and "C" airspace. A winch right in LA, Reno, or SF would be great,
but I'd bet the Federales would notam out the operation pronto.

I'm not aware of one either but I'm working on it.


Such an operation would likely need to be a private club, too.
I just can't see a club buying up the $$$$s worth of acres to
get this working near a major CA city...

Not near a city but dry land in the desert isn't too bad. There are lots of
lonely, low traffic county airports that woud be great for winch launchng

Bill Daniels