At 04:19 15 July 2009, tommytoyz wrote:
We just need to figure out how to make a cheap reliable winch and find
places to use them at. At $10-$15 a launch, a glider club or operator
would quickly make a nice income, like European clubs do. The real
cost of a winch launch is something like $3-5 per launch including
maintenance, reserves and replacements. 30 launches a week x $10
profit = $1,200 extra a month. That's one very nice glider upgrade
every 5 years. This is one of the main reasons why European clubs have
such nice equipment.

There are winches already in operation in the US, there are groups who
want to operate them, and there are groups trying to design and
manufacture them. I think we need all of the above.

I'm part of a wanna-be operating group, with limited funds. That pretty
much means either finding a rebuildable Gehrlein, importing an inexpensive
used winch from Europe, or homebrewing a new winch (based on the UK spec).
I prefer the latter, as I think there is still plenty of room for
optimization, both in fabrication and operation. While I respect those
who are trying to push the envelope with advance power systems and launch
automation, a simple single drum winch based on automotive components will
be good enough for our local group get started.

If you aren't a member of the Yahoo Winch Design group, please consider
joining. While we have our share of spats, there is progress being made
towards coming up with component designs for a cheap reliable
non-automated winch...

Marc