At 21:40 06 December 2010, shkdriver wrote:

Anyone have any experience/thoughts to share about winch launching a
shempp-hirth SHK? My example has CG tost hook on gear leg.

Thanks,
Scott W.

Scott,

I had a 17m SHK many years ago. The difference between minimum and maximum
all up weight was about 20 lbs which made one very careful about spinning.
I never had problems launching behind a car, but a very experienced pilot
at Lasham spun his in from a wire launch.

Are you fully experienced on winch launching? A modern high power winch is
rather different to the F100 trucks we used to use for launching, and I
would say that the SHK could bite a little more than some gliders if you
are too sudden with your pull up or if you pull too hard. A V tail is not
the same as a normal T tail, and I imagine that turbulent air off the wing
at a high angle of attack could possibly cause issues.

I enjoyed the glider very much, but you need to be very careful rigging
the main pin (if you are not aware of this then please do research the
issue, it is on the internet - we had a fatality in the UK this year I
believe because of mis-rigging with this system which is very easy to do)
and watch the CofG and spin characteristics. It will bite if you deviate
too far from best practice on winch launching. The BGA has published very
good notes on winching.

If you already have experience with the SHK and / or you are a higher
hours pilot, then it is fine so long as you treat it with a little more
respect than, for example, a K6e.


Mike