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Old September 5th 07, 05:34 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Jim Vincent
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Posts: 92
Default Winch launch procedure and accidents

In a crosswind, consider having the wing runner hold the upwind wing down so
the glider feels balanced. That angle should be very close to what the
pilot needs to control the drift. Then, there is no need to initiate a
aileron input since the wing is already at the angle needed to compensate
for drift.

"Ian" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 5 Sep, 16:19, Frank Whiteley wrote:

As some who had a ground loop many years again on a winch launch
(tall, damp grass 12" and inexperienced wing runner that didn't run,
but dropped the wing on all out), I'm with the hand on release. Wing
down, get off.


One of my bugbears is wing runners who hold the wings level.

Sounds like their job, doesn't it? But if they have to apply force to
hold the wings level - because the stick is to one side, say, or in a
cross wind - then as soon as they let go the glider will fall down
and, if the pilot is unlucky, touch a tip. Wing runners, if the wing
is pulling down, let it go down - a bit. The pilot can then do
something useful with the stick (probably by reflex) to get it level.

Pilots can be stupid about this too. "There is a cross wind from the
right" they think "so I will need to keep the right wing down to avoid
drift, so I will start with some right aileron" Yes, I know it's not
logical, but they do it, and the result is generally a huge lurch as
soon as the tip runner lets go.

Ian