Is there anywhere you could operate a winch? IME, which may be different
from yours since I fly with a UK club with its own airfield, a winch
launch costs around a third of an aero tow. The club owns both winches
and Robin GR300 tugs and thats the price differential between a winch
launch and a 2000 ft aero tow - and the winching operation usually
subsidises aero towing. On our winch 1200-1400 ft is the norm, but with
stronger wind and a decent velocity gradient I've hit 2700ft.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org


Thanks, Martin - you beat me to the clock with that reply!
IMHO, a winch and a winchable two-seat glider have been the catalyst for clubs around the world in the past. Much lower initial cost and much lower operating cost.
John F.: send me a PM and we can discuss how to pull off the winch part (pun intended!)
Uli
'AS'