We've run across this guy Vincent or Hussain, whatever his name is now,
at the Ridge. At one point he was bending my ear about techniques for
flying my new Discus 2b, only to find our he'd never flown one. It
seems the he spreads disconcert and ill-will in a number of locations.
I know some of the people at PGC and they run a first-class operation
and have good equipment. I incidentally spoke with Dean Carswell after
he did the winch course at PGC and he said the operation ran well. I
suspect every club has, or has had, a malcontent outsider who has
nothing good to say. I had to deal with a couple of these personalities
at my former club. The tone of Vincent's comments makes it clear that
he has a axe to grind and I take his foul-mouthing with a grain of
salt.

My thought is that we should be doing more winching in the U.S. and if
this functional winch for sale can help a soaring group get started
that is a benefit. From the looks of it, it appears PGC made a good
choice in buying the new winch. Notwithstanding Mr. Vincents venom,
good luck with the new machine.

JD




Jim Vincent wrote:
"Wallace Berry" wrote in message
...
In article .com,
wrote:

The difference
between a good winch and all the rest is in ease of use and reliability.
The Eagle winch is very easy to use and has been extremely reliable.

Wallace,

You make a very good point here. In the past, that winch was very
reliable...we never had a problem that we could not fixed or affected winch
launch safety. As long as you have someone that can change the oil
occasionally and do minimal maintenance. THAT must be why PGC is selling
it; everyone who knows anything about working on it has quit! Let's see...
Head of "green thing" maintenance (the four wheel ATVs)...quit
Head of field maintenance...quit
75% of maintenance committee...quit.

Who is left? Oh yeah....Jack! The Princeton graduate who never went to
Princeton? The Engineer who cannot comprehend a gear warning circuit? The
A&P who doesn't have an A&P but tells everyone that he does? The guy who
mixes epoxy in Wawa coffee cups and then installs flight surfaces on
aircraft? The one that falsifies log book entries? Yeah, that's the one!
Sure, touch base with him and I'm sure he'll tell you how wonderful the
winch is and how perfectly he has maintained it. Be sure to look under the
seat when you get the winch for your lucky surprise. So far I've found
tools under two seat pans of gliders that Jack has worked on.