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Old June 26th 09, 08:35 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
bildan
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Default Winch Launch Fatality

On Jun 26, 10:30*am, Don Johnstone wrote:
You should not necessarily point the glider at the winch, you should point
it in the direction that the cable is going to take. If there is a bow in
the cable then the glider should not point at the winch but towards the
bow so that yaw is not induced.


A typical answer for a steel cable user. Steel digs in to the ground
as it is puled out. You don't know if a steel cable will maintain its
initial direction or 'twang' back to center jerking the glider around.

UHMWPE/Dyneema rope will take a dead straight line from the glider to
the winch as it is tensioned. The stuff is so light that it easily
skips sideways over weeds and grass. If it fails to straighten out,
it's likely caught on something solid and you'd best investigate.

Yet another reason to dump steel cable.