I fly at Lasham in the UK and I choose winching as my preferred
method of launching. It is far cheaper than aero towing and I
reckon that if you can't get away from a winch launch, it quite
likely isn't cross countryable anyway.

Although there have been a few bad winching accidents over the
years, it is a perfectly safe method of launching provided it is
done properly. The BGA has had a 'safe winch launching'
initiative which was led by Hugh Browning. They concentrated on
a number of areas where bad practice had crept in and have
altered the training syllabus to compensate. Areas of particular
concern we

1. If you drop a wing on the ground run, release and don't try to
pick it up. This avoids the risk of 'cartwheeling' at the beginning
of the launch. We now teach people to keep their left hand on
the release until they have full aileron control.

2. Make the initial climb very gentle. It takes little imagination to
think what might happen if the launch fails with your nose about
45 degrees up in the air with precious little airspeed at low
altitude.

3. As soon as you have safe climbing speed GRADUALLY
transition into the full climb attitude. If you do it too fast, you
risk a high speed stall and if you have any yaw, could flick roll.
The transition should take around 5 to 7 seconds.

4. As you climb, constantly monitor airspeed. With the pull of the
cable, particularly towards the top of the launch, the wing
loading is much increased and so the stall speed. If the speed
drops below the minimum, lower the nose a little and if
necessary release.

5. If the speed gets too high, try to wave it off but if that doesn't
work, release.

6. Before launching, have a plan in mind what to do for pattern
(circuit) recovery if the launch fails. Also decide on your
approach speed. This will vary according to wind strength and
the shape of your airfield.

7. If the launch fails, lower the nose then WAIT!!! until you have
flying speed before attempting to manoevre the aircraft. People
have spun off a failed winch launch because they tried to turn
with insufficient speed.

Winch launch failures are routine. Around 1 in 100 winch
launches fail in some way or another. Always have it in the back
of your head what you would do if the launch fails.

The ways that a launch can fail are many and varied. There
might be a noise as the cable breaks but there might not. The
launch can fail suddenly or there might just be a gradual loss of
power. The important thing is to monitor airspeed and attitude
as well as acceleration. Launch failures are usually pretty
obvious but not always so.

I hope that this is helpful. I would really recommend doing some
winch training with experienced instructors. I don't know of
anywhere in North America where it can be done but we
welcome people from all over the world at Lasham. There is on-
site accommodation available and it is around an hours drive or
train ride from London.

Hugh Browning and very many other experienced instructors fly
there. Through Hugh's efforts, the serious/fatal accident rate
from winch launching has been reduced from around 16 in a five
year period to less than 4. I think that this is a fantastic effort
for which Hugh and the other BGA people should be justly proud.