We use LPG in the winches at my UK club and the fuel costs are fairly
negligible. A decent winch shouldn't cost very much more than a decent
tug, and has far lower maintenance costs and requirements. You also don't
need a licenced pilot to operate it. With a long enough winch run and using
lightweight synthetic cables, it should easily be possible to get to
2000ft+ launches, especially if you can launch into a bit of a headwind.


Derek Copeland

At 09:20 26 May 2008, Mike Lindsay wrote:
In article , Derek Copeland
writes
My UK gliding club has just been forced to increase the cost of 2000ft
aerotows from £25 to £29 (about $58), just due to the spiralling price
of
fuel.

A good case for more winch launching perhaps!

Derek Copeland


Too right!

I know of two UK clubs which use LPG as a fuel for winches.

We are doing more winching at our club; you can get to 1400 to 1500 ft
at about a third the price of an aerotow to 2000.

There seems to be an idea that winching is far more dangerous than
aerotows, but I am old enough to remember a time when we were killing
two or three tuggies every year.


--
Mike Lindsay