Scary thought that. I have a total of three aero tow launches representing less
than 1% of my flying yet somehow have managed to thermal away many times. In
fact well enough that my average flight time is 33 minutes. Considering I do a
fair amount of intro flights of 5 to 10 minutes that is not a bad average for a
launch type that is so difficult.

One thing we notice at our club, by the time we send someone solo, they can find
thermals and get away pretty efficiently. Nothing like being 1,500" AGL to focus
the mind on finding lift...

Maybe we are just spoiled with good conditions.

GM wrote:
Frank Whiteley wrote:

Rusty wrote:

Hello All:
With the price of fuel going up and the price of AeroTows close behind
it I think the need to follow the lead of our brethren in the UK is
close at hand. I have heard talk of the infamous $100.00 tow and know
that I for one can't afford it, I have to work for a living as do most
of you! I and some of my fellow pilots are wanting to start a new club
and are want to use winch, auto tows and reverse pulley launching
exclusively. Let's discuss the different aspects of ground launching as
the only thing that will save our sport and make it inviting once again
to new students.
Thanks
Rusty

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/winchdesign/
Many of the issues are discuseed here and there are some archival
files/images to review. I'm quite happy to carry on here or in the
group.

There are a few stumbling blocks to ground launching, but most can be
overcome. Space is definitely one. If your launch rope can span
4000ft or more, it's very attractive. Others have done with less
distance. Location helps. Thinking outside the box helps also.

So, where are you? Appears you may be in Texas. That could be
fortunate as there are some ground launch activities there, in case
pilot and instructor qualifications are needed. If you are seriously
considering starting a club in the US, have a look here
http://www.soarcsa.org/ssa/clubs/2005_start_here.htm

Frank Whiteley
SSA Clubs & Chapters Committee member
CSA Winchmeister



.... Thinking outside the box helps also....

Frank, well said!
Many folks in the club I recently left in NE Ohio where dead set
against any kind of ground launching for they had heard how dangerous
it is and that you can not soar away out of a winch launch. Most of the
nay-sayers had never ground launched nor had they seen a modern winch
in action.
I think the main obstacle for introducing winch- or ground launching in
the US is to change the perception of what a modern winch is capable of
and at what cost at that.

'Folks - It ain't your daddy's Gehrlein winch anymore!!'

Anybody interested feel free to read up on that issue at (or join)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/winchdesign/ .

I think we have collected the most comprehensive set of information
regarding winch launching in the last year and a half from practical
'how to' knowledge to all sorts of theoretical papers on the physics of
a winch launch.
Lets get to work!

Uli Neumann



--
Bruce Greeff
Std Cirrus #57
I'm no-T at the address above.