On Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 7:51:21 PM UTC-6, BG wrote:
Many years ago I visited the Untterwossen glider port and was super impressed with their electric winch. It had all the controllable feature you would ever want to get a glider to the maximum height with a given cable length. It was something close to 2/3 the cable length in height. Programable for glider type and loading by a push of a button. They were installing a solar array and battery system that converted the thermal energy to another type that got you airborne!!!

Anyway with the availability of EV cars and their power trains, it is a no brainier to think how they could be adapted to a winch design.

I hope someone out there has the vision to make this a reality, It solves so many problems and the cost to get airborne is peanuts compared to the current commercial rates being charged.

As we watch in real time our sport headed towards near extinction, it would be a breath of fresh air to make it more affordable across the board.

Buzz Graves

Have a look at these links

https://www.hdelectriclaunch.com/

https://www.facebook.com/bill.daniels.336 scroll down to March 9 and additional comments to see some component images and videos.

Go to https://cad.onshape.com/signin and register a free account. Then sign in. Search for Production Electric Glider Winch. The design is open source and pretty well vetted. Free accounts can only search for public projects.

Not ready for electric? Search for ICE winch.

Frank Whiteley