On Sep 7, 4:53*pm, Jimmie L. Coulthard
wrote:
I am new to using this site. Can anyone tell me about winch launching a
Ka8b and what one needs to expect. Thanks

Jimmie,

the Ka-8 is a very benign trainer and I have a lot of winch launches
in it.
The way we were taught was to keep the stick well forward and the left
rudder on.
Reason: the CG hook is very low compared to the wings so there is a
chance of the glider going into a too steep of a climb too early,
especially if you are a light weight person and just barly make the
minimum cockpit load (I had to fly with close to 20kg of lead-shot
filled seat cushions - wish that would be the case today...)
The winch operator should know to advance the throttle smoothly after
all the slack has been taken up. If the he does a lousy job and
snatches you up with a hard jerk, you are sure to bang the tail skid
into the ground, since the Ka-8 rests on it's skid with the tail up.
If the acceleration and the elevator action is correct, the tail skid
never touches the ground.
The rudder should be held to the left for as long as it takes to
become effective. The CG hook is mounted left of the center line, so
there is a slight tendendcy to turn to the right if not countered with
a bit of left rudder early in the ground roll. Once you notice the
rudder to become effective and you are going straight, you can
nutralize it and bring the stick back to lift off.
The first 50m should be climed at a moderate angle for safety reasons
after which the full climb angle can be assumed by bringing the stick
further aft.
The best climb speed to maintain during the climb is around 90km/h.
As some of the previous posters mentioned, the best prep for a winch
launch in a Ka-8 is training in a Ka-7 of Ka-13.

Have fun and safe winching!

Uli Neumann