On 3/8/2021 8:41 AM, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Moshe Braner wrote on 3/7/2021 6:04 PM:
Personally I think that dragging an expensive battery pack along in
every glider is inefficient use of resources.Â* But then you may say
the same about dragging equally, if not more, expensive composite
structures around the sky.Â* We do what we have to do to achieve our
aerial dance performances.Â* Then we land, and like any performance
art, it's all gone poof, into the past. We only do it because we love it.

I think having towplanes sit idle on the ground Monday through Friday is
an inefficient use of resources; ditto for tow planes sitting idle in
poor weather, while I'm 100 miles away, looking at growing cumulus.

But, I agree with the basic point that sharing the launch system is a
more efficient use of resources, and a way to do that with a
self-launcher is a partnership, especially with partners that have
different or flexible schedules. Electric self-launchers seem
particularly well-suited to partnerships, with their easier use of the
motor.

If battery packs were standardized and removable (better for charging
anyway), then could also share them between gliders. Of course on the
day when the weather is really good everybody will be competing for the
use of the shared battery. Plug several shared standard batteries into
the electric winch on that day? ("Blue Sky" thinking here...)