611 launches in one day with one winch! Wow! I think that's a world
recond.

Bill Daniels


"Phil Collin" wrote in message
...
As an aside,
back in 88 we at 611 VGS at RAF Swanton Morley flew from legal sun up to
legal sun down on the longest day.
Utilising our Van Gelder 6 drum winch and 6 GROB 103's achieved in excess
of our 611 launches in a single day target.
Logistics were fun but just demonstrated what is possible.

Phil


Bill Daniels wrote:
"Martin Gregorie" wrote in message
news
For short runways, a single drum and a retrieve winch is probably
unbeatable.

I know about them but have never seen one in action. How long can the
run be before this becomes impractical?


Not sure - somebody needs to do some believable side by side tests. The
UK retrieve winch operations are still using steel cables on fairly short
runs. Those don't seem to suffer much from lifting two cables.
Obviously, Dyneema cables will have a large effect on retrieve winch
operations by reducing the losses associated with lifting a second cable.

It depends on what you are trying to do. Landing practice or launching
into local ridge lift makes launch frequency the most important thing so
retrieve winches are attractive there. Getting high enough to cruise
around for a while looking for thermals probably means long runs and
multiple drums are a better approach.

Very high launches for training probably eliminates retrieve winches from
consideration.

Bill Daniels