Fellow glider pilots,

First, I apologize for the length of this post. Our
club has acquired a new powerful 2-drum winch, and
I've been wondering about how to best operate it.
We have operated an older single drum winch successfully,
which works but is apparently a bit weak. We have
about 3800 feet for winch use. There has been some
talk about using the old winch for a retreive winch,
and using only one drum of the new winch, and that
has prompted all these questions. I've read Piggot's
Ground Launches book, and he barely mentions retreive
winching. Following, in no particular order, are some
of these questions:

What about emergencies? Suppose the glider releases
or the rope breaks at 400'? Will those lines up in
the air cause any difficulty for the glider, or any
possibility of interference? It seems possible that
the lines, being under tension from both ends, will
come down quicker than the glider does. Looking from
the glider viewpoint of making a safe landing somewhere
on the field, regardless of runways, there is a possibility
of running over the towlines. We don't have skid-equipped
gliders any more, so that really shouldn't be a problem,
but I could see the lines catching on gear doors, etc.

Another thing, what keeps the glider from running over
the retreive line on takeoff? I suppose that would
be prevented by, for example, having the takeoff point
where it usually is, even with the middle of the driveway,
but having the retreive winch offset a few dozen yards
to one side. That would keep the retreive line out
of line with the glider, at least until the glider
got off, then the weight of the strop would make it
hang below the glider. This might make the retreive
winch need some kind of steering device, maybe made
from a car steering system, which would keep the winch
pointing at the glider/parachute.

Yet another thing, it seems that doing this right will
require more communications between the two winch operators
than the simple radio checks from one winch to the
glider. I would see it as the main winch operator
being in command, and telling the retreive winch operator
what to do. Maybe a command sequence something like:
(main to retreive) Ready to launch
(retreive to main) winch drum in neutral
Main winch starts launch
Glider releases
(main to retreive) Glider overhead, apply brake
(to stop the retreive drum from overrunning)
(main to retreive) Glider off, main winch in neutral,
begin retreive
(retreive to main) 500' left, begin braking
(to stop the main drum from overrunning)
(retreive to main) Retreive complete

This would seem like a lot of communications to use
over the regular aviation frequencies. Has any thought
been given to using FRS radios for this function?
The main winch could have two different push-to-talk
buttons, one for glider communications, the other for
the FRS radio. I assume the winch operators would
be wearing headsets, which could be stereo, with the
two radio circuits in different ears, and mike switching
with relays based on which PTT switch was pressed.
I'm not sure the retreive winch operator needs to
talk on the glider channel, just to listen.

What kind of line do you use on the retreive winch?
By my crude calculations, I think we would need at
least 4500' of retreive cable, maybe 5000'.

Am I making this too complicated? Speed of operations
is nice, but safety comes first.

I know there are people or clubs out there who are
already doing this safely and successfully. If you
could point to, or send me, any operations manuals
or procedures, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,
Ed