On Oct 8, 6:15*am, Eric Munk wrote:
Like posted here, winch launching is usually uneventful. I did wonder why
BGA promote 55 Kt (100 kmh). Manufacturer says 90kmh min, which is fine.
Still only gives you 20 kmh margin, not too much. Structural damage
occurred to a glider that routinely did 110-140 kmh, on a black weaklink.
Asking for trouble, but yes, it can happen.

Not all of us have heard of this incident. Conventional (including
BGA) wisdom is that as long as the glider is structurally sound, and
the correct weak link is in use, exceeding max winch speed should not
result in structural damage, as the weak link should break well before
structural limits are reached. The specified weak link strength for
the Puchacz is 750 daN (red), it should be obvious that using a 1000
daN weak link (black) is an accident waiting to happen. What did
happen?

Marc