On Aug 16, 3:45 am, "Bill Daniels" bildan@comcast-dot-net wrote:
The envelope is narrow but
not extremely so. Don't overstate the case.

An awful lot of people used to get killed in the UK winch launching,
and it did have an accident rate several times higher than aerotowing
(I believe the exact number was three times as many killed per winch
launch as there were per aerotow launch). Then the BGA instigated a
Safety Initiative in 2005, and since then I believe there's only been
one death - the one I linked to above, where the pilot ignored BGA
advice and paid the price.

Winching is perfectly safe - I don't launch any other way - but it
demands respect. The last thing winching in the US needs is an
accident. If you're starting a winch operation from an experience base
of zero, you need to thoroughly plan how you're going to get the
training and advice required, because it isn't trivial and is very
different to aerotow.


Dan