On Apr 9, 11:15*am, Nyal Williams wrote:
Our club has yet to try winching, though a half-dozen members have
experienced it elsewhere sometime across the last fifty years.

Reading Piggot, I discover the command "All Out" for the beginning of
the launch. *Is this the customary command in other places besides
England? *Why this? *What does it reall mean? *At first I took it to mean
"Everyone stand clear" or some such, but apparently it means "Give 'er
the gun" in US slang. Does this Britishism have some colloquial meaning
for them that doesn't exist elsewhere?

Seems to me, such a command would be the same one a glider pilot who has
no wing runner (aero retrieve from a landout) uses on the radio to tell a
tow pilot to begin the launch after the rope is taut. *I've heard, "Go,
go, go." which I don't really like but can't say why.

What have you heard? *Anyone have any comments to offer?

In our club (Carolina Soaring Asociation), we use 'Take up slack' ,
'All out - All out' and 'Stop-Stop-Stop'. The glider controls the
speed and if he cannot do so anymore because he is over-speeding, the
pilot calls out 'down 5kts'. So far, this method has worked for us.
Last weekend, we got our fully loaded TwinAstir to 1,800ft several
times :-) The enthusiasm for and interest in winching is growing!
Uli Neumann