I drove a Pawnee yesterday (10 tows) and it is a LOT more fun than driving a
winch, which I haven't done in over 10 years. From the glider end of the
rope, however, I'd *much* rather be connected to a winch or truck (runway
length permitting, of course).


"GM" wrote in message
...
On Thursday, November 22, 2012 8:58:59 AM UTC-5, kirk.stant wrote:
On Thursday, November 22, 2012 2:31:23 PM UTC+1, Karen wrote: Get with the
program USA. The Germans have been doing it since the 1930's. The little
UK still does more flights than we do per airport. Karen Henderson. Karen,
the US has been doing it since the 1930s, too. And not all German clubs
use a winch - I visited a nice soaring club near Aachen a week ago (they
were flying everything from a DG-1000 to an open cockpit oldie) that has
too short runways to consider a winch - the price of land would never make
it economical. We have almost the same problem at our club here in St
Louis - we own a big grass strip, perfect for aerotowing, but at 2700'
just a bit too short for "get away" winching - and we have roads at both
ends preventing extending much more. It's a nice option, though. Fun, too!
If you can do it, go for it! But a Pawnee is a LOT more fun to drive than
a winch... Kirk 66

Kirk, you may be right - there are a handfull of clubs in Germany which do
not use a winch due to space constraints but out of about 900 active clubs
reported by the DAeC, that is a negligble number. Tha vast majority uses
winching as their main launch method due to cost reasons - mainly due to
high fuel cost over there.
But a Pawnee is a LOT more fun to drive than a winch...
Oh really?? Drive one lately? ;-)

Uli