Amazing Winching Weekend in Utah

The Utah Soaring Association (USA) held a winch training camp at Nephi this last weekend with our newly purchased and rebuilt winch. We invited Karl Striedieck and his brother Walter to come and train 4 of our cfig's over the course of 2.5 days. We ended up with 4 club cfig's who are now winch launch endorsed and who can help teach the rest of our club members how to safely fly a winch launch. We also got 3 club members fully trained on driving the winch and who can now also teach others to become drivers. Another 4 club members got a chance to drive the winch under supervision. We really only went half days if you take out all the time standing around chatting and still flew 78 launches!

The coolest part, other than getting to rocket up into the sky at crazy velocities, was that during the weekend we were able to introduce winch launching to 15 other club members who had never experienced it (or even seen it in person) before. They each got to experience a launch or two and we think we hooked many of them into wanting to get their own winch training and endorsement. Everyone I talked to left very impressed and willing to participate in winching in the future.

We proved winches can be a FAST way to launch a LOT of gliders or the same glider many times at a fraction of the cost! With a RZR side by side running the line back to the glider, we were able to get consistent 6 minute times from one launch to the next using one Twin Astir and 4,000' of rope! Yes, 10 launches an hour! On the last day we were also able to demonstrate that you can do the whole operation with only a winch driver and a wing runner (yours truly for most of the day) safely and effectively. I would run the wing and immediately jump in the golf cart as the glider was climbing and start down the side of the runway to retrieve the rope once it was dropped. With the slower golf cart, we were still getting 9-10 minute turn-arounds (6 launches an hour)! When we plan for contest tows we plan on 12-15 minute tows, so again, winches can be very efficient both in not needing extra personnel and time between launches. Of course a few more bodies are nice but not necessary.

Karl and Walter were amazing instructors and were very gracious with their time and sharing of their knowledge. Thank you guys for helping get us become more winch launch self-sufficient.

We also must thank and acknowledge Bill Daniels for all his help getting us started with winching earlier in the season. Without his advice and huge amount of help, we would have never taken the leap of faith to purchase an old warn out winch and almost completely overhaul or replace every component. Bill spent countless hours helping us to get to the point where we can really start going now as a club. Thanks Bill!

Here is a quick 15 second video of one of our launches:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10206694768880766

In a nutshell, we had a fun and safe weekend flying $3,500 worth of aero tows for only $100 in fuel and $100 in rope reserves while putting big smiles on lots of faces.

Bruno - B4

On Monday, October 5, 2015 at 9:13:08 PM UTC-6, wrote:
The Utah Soaring Association (USA) held a winch training camp at Nephi this last weekend with our newly purchased and rebuilt winch. We invited Karl Striedieck and his brother Walter to come and train 4 of our cfig's over the course of 2.5 days. We ended up with 4 club cfig's who are now winch launch endorsed and who can help teach the rest of our club members how to safely fly a winch launch. We also got 3 club members fully trained on driving the winch and who can now also teach others to become drivers. Another 4 club members got a chance to drive the winch under supervision. We really only went half days if you take out all the time standing around chatting and still flew 78 launches!

The coolest part, other than getting to rocket up into the sky at crazy velocities, was that during the weekend we were able to introduce winch launching to 15 other club members who had never experienced it (or even seen it in person) before. They each got to experience a launch or two and we think we hooked many of them into wanting to get their own winch training and endorsement. Everyone I talked to left very impressed and willing to participate in winching in the future.

We proved winches can be a FAST way to launch a LOT of gliders or the same glider many times at a fraction of the cost! With a RZR side by side running the line back to the glider, we were able to get consistent 6 minute times from one launch to the next using one Twin Astir and 4,000' of rope! Yes, 10 launches an hour! On the last day we were also able to demonstrate that you can do the whole operation with only a winch driver and a wing runner (yours truly for most of the day) safely and effectively. I would run the wing and immediately jump in the golf cart as the glider was climbing and start down the side of the runway to retrieve the rope once it was dropped. With the slower golf cart, we were still getting 9-10 minute turn-arounds (6 launches an hour)! When we plan for contest tows we plan on 12-15 minute tows, so again, winches can be very efficient both in not needing extra personnel and time between launches. Of course a few more bodies are nice but not necessary.

Karl and Walter were amazing instructors and were very gracious with their time and sharing of their knowledge. Thank you guys for helping get us become more winch launch self-sufficient.

We also must thank and acknowledge Bill Daniels for all his help getting us started with winching earlier in the season. Without his advice and huge amount of help, we would have never taken the leap of faith to purchase an old warn out winch and almost completely overhaul or replace every component. Bill spent countless hours helping us to get to the point where we can really start going now as a club. Thanks Bill!

Here is a quick 15 second video of one of our launches:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10206694768880766

In a nutshell, we had a fun and safe weekend flying $3,500 worth of aero tows for only $100 in fuel and $100 in rope reserves while putting big smiles on lots of faces.

Bruno - B4

Our newly formed club the Steamboat Springs Soaring Assoc.is in its second season of winch only operations and we love it.There have been days when a tow plane would of been nice but so far winching has made us better low level pilots.Both our low altitude thermaling skills and landing skills have improved a lot.It will be nice for your club to be able to offer both options for launch.Good luck in your new winching adventure,check out our winch at www.soarsteamboat.org Tom Wood

Cool!
Nice that the project was finished and so many people checked out.
With a few winch drivers trained, make sure you rotate drivers so it doesn't get boring at the other end of the runway from their friends.
Jim

Do you accept visiting pilots (SSA members) and their own ships?

This question is for both Nephi and Steamboat.

Dan

On 10/5/2015 9:30 PM, wrote:
On Monday, October 5, 2015 at 9:13:08 PM UTC-6, wrote:
The Utah Soaring Association (USA) held a winch training camp at Nephi this last weekend with our newly purchased and rebuilt winch. We invited Karl Striedieck and his brother Walter to come and train 4 of our cfig's over the course of 2.5 days. We ended up with 4 club cfig's who are now winch launch endorsed and who can help teach the rest of our club members how to safely fly a winch launch. We also got 3 club members fully trained on driving the winch and who can now also teach others to become drivers. Another 4 club members got a chance to drive the winch under supervision. We really only went half days if you take out all the time standing around chatting and still flew 78 launches!

The coolest part, other than getting to rocket up into the sky at crazy velocities, was that during the weekend we were able to introduce winch launching to 15 other club members who had never experienced it (or even seen it in person) before. They each got to experience a launch or two and we think we hooked many of them into wanting to get their own winch training and endorsement. Everyone I talked to left very impressed and willing to participate in winching in the future.

We proved winches can be a FAST way to launch a LOT of gliders or the same glider many times at a fraction of the cost! With a RZR side by side running the line back to the glider, we were able to get consistent 6 minute times from one launch to the next using one Twin Astir and 4,000' of rope! Yes, 10 launches an hour! On the last day we were also able to demonstrate that you can do the whole operation with only a winch driver and a wing runner (yours truly for most of the day) safely and effectively. I would run the wing and immediately jump in the golf cart as the glider was climbing and start down the side of the runway to retrieve the rope once it was dropped. With the slower golf cart, we were still getting 9-10 minute turn-arounds (6 launches an hour)! When we plan for contest tows we plan on 12-15 minute tows, so again, winches can be very efficient both in not needing extra personnel and time between launches. Of course a few more bodies are nice but not necessary.

Karl and Walter were amazing instructors and were very gracious with their time and sharing of their knowledge. Thank you guys for helping get us become more winch launch self-sufficient.

We also must thank and acknowledge Bill Daniels for all his help getting us started with winching earlier in the season. Without his advice and huge amount of help, we would have never taken the leap of faith to purchase an old warn out winch and almost completely overhaul or replace every component. Bill spent countless hours helping us to get to the point where we can really start going now as a club. Thanks Bill!

Here is a quick 15 second video of one of our launches:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10206694768880766

In a nutshell, we had a fun and safe weekend flying $3,500 worth of aero tows for only $100 in fuel and $100 in rope reserves while putting big smiles on lots of faces.

Bruno - B4
Our newly formed club the Steamboat Springs Soaring Assoc.is in its second season of winch only operations and we love it.There have been days when a tow plane would of been nice but so far winching has made us better low level pilots.Both our low altitude thermaling skills and landing skills have improved a lot.It will be nice for your club to be able to offer both options for launch.Good luck in your new winching adventure,check out our winch at www.soarsteamboat.org Tom Wood

--
Dan, 5J

On Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 9:54:10 AM UTC-6, Dan Marotta wrote:
Do you accept visiting pilots (SSA members) and their own ships?



This question is for both Nephi and Steamboat.



Dan

Hi Dan, we are meeting as a board of the club this winter to work on bylaws changes that will hopefully allow visiting pilots to enjoy getting trained / checked out on our winch and maybe even get access to our gliders. Not quite sure how that can be structured but we are planning on working on it.

Bruno - B4

Thanks Bruno, I'd bring my own glider with CG release and I've been
ground launching periodically since about 1987.

Dan

On 10/6/2015 10:36 PM, wrote:
On Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 9:54:10 AM UTC-6, Dan Marotta wrote:
Do you accept visiting pilots (SSA members) and their own ships?



This question is for both Nephi and Steamboat.



Dan

Hi Dan, we are meeting as a board of the club this winter to work on bylaws changes that will hopefully allow visiting pilots to enjoy getting trained / checked out on our winch and maybe even get access to our gliders. Not quite sure how that can be structured but we are planning on working on it.

Bruno - B4

--
Dan, 5J

On Monday, October 5, 2015 at 10:13:08 PM UTC-5, wrote:
The Utah Soaring Association (USA) held a winch training camp at Nephi this last weekend with our newly purchased and rebuilt winch. We invited Karl Striedieck and his brother Walter to come and train 4 of our cfig's over the course of 2.5 days. We ended up with 4 club cfig's who are now winch launch endorsed and who can help teach the rest of our club members how to safely fly a winch launch. We also got 3 club members fully trained on driving the winch and who can now also teach others to become drivers. Another 4 club members got a chance to drive the winch under supervision. We really only went half days if you take out all the time standing around chatting and still flew 78 launches!

The coolest part, other than getting to rocket up into the sky at crazy velocities, was that during the weekend we were able to introduce winch launching to 15 other club members who had never experienced it (or even seen it in person) before. They each got to experience a launch or two and we think we hooked many of them into wanting to get their own winch training and endorsement. Everyone I talked to left very impressed and willing to participate in winching in the future.

We proved winches can be a FAST way to launch a LOT of gliders or the same glider many times at a fraction of the cost! With a RZR side by side running the line back to the glider, we were able to get consistent 6 minute times from one launch to the next using one Twin Astir and 4,000' of rope! Yes, 10 launches an hour! On the last day we were also able to demonstrate that you can do the whole operation with only a winch driver and a wing runner (yours truly for most of the day) safely and effectively. I would run the wing and immediately jump in the golf cart as the glider was climbing and start down the side of the runway to retrieve the rope once it was dropped. With the slower golf cart, we were still getting 9-10 minute turn-arounds (6 launches an hour)! When we plan for contest tows we plan on 12-15 minute tows, so again, winches can be very efficient both in not needing extra personnel and time between launches. Of course a few more bodies are nice but not necessary.

Karl and Walter were amazing instructors and were very gracious with their time and sharing of their knowledge. Thank you guys for helping get us become more winch launch self-sufficient.

We also must thank and acknowledge Bill Daniels for all his help getting us started with winching earlier in the season. Without his advice and huge amount of help, we would have never taken the leap of faith to purchase an old warn out winch and almost completely overhaul or replace every component. Bill spent countless hours helping us to get to the point where we can really start going now as a club. Thanks Bill!

Here is a quick 15 second video of one of our launches:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10206694768880766

In a nutshell, we had a fun and safe weekend flying $3,500 worth of aero tows for only $100 in fuel and $100 in rope reserves while putting big smiles on lots of faces.

Bruno - B4

Sorry Bruno but no, you didn't prove that winching is safe, fun and low cost - you confirmed it. Millions of winch launches before yours have been the proof. A little less hype, please.

On Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 11:29:05 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Monday, October 5, 2015 at 10:13:08 PM UTC-5, wrote:
The Utah Soaring Association (USA) held a winch training camp at Nephi this last weekend with our newly purchased and rebuilt winch. We invited Karl Striedieck and his brother Walter to come and train 4 of our cfig's over the course of 2.5 days. We ended up with 4 club cfig's who are now winch launch endorsed and who can help teach the rest of our club members how to safely fly a winch launch. We also got 3 club members fully trained on driving the winch and who can now also teach others to become drivers. Another 4 club members got a chance to drive the winch under supervision. We really only went half days if you take out all the time standing around chatting and still flew 78 launches!

The coolest part, other than getting to rocket up into the sky at crazy velocities, was that during the weekend we were able to introduce winch launching to 15 other club members who had never experienced it (or even seen it in person) before. They each got to experience a launch or two and we think we hooked many of them into wanting to get their own winch training and endorsement. Everyone I talked to left very impressed and willing to participate in winching in the future.

We proved winches can be a FAST way to launch a LOT of gliders or the same glider many times at a fraction of the cost! With a RZR side by side running the line back to the glider, we were able to get consistent 6 minute times from one launch to the next using one Twin Astir and 4,000' of rope! Yes, 10 launches an hour! On the last day we were also able to demonstrate that you can do the whole operation with only a winch driver and a wing runner (yours truly for most of the day) safely and effectively. I would run the wing and immediately jump in the golf cart as the glider was climbing and start down the side of the runway to retrieve the rope once it was dropped. With the slower golf cart, we were still getting 9-10 minute turn-arounds (6 launches an hour)! When we plan for contest tows we plan on 12-15 minute tows, so again, winches can be very efficient both in not needing extra personnel and time between launches. Of course a few more bodies are nice but not necessary.

Karl and Walter were amazing instructors and were very gracious with their time and sharing of their knowledge. Thank you guys for helping get us become more winch launch self-sufficient.

We also must thank and acknowledge Bill Daniels for all his help getting us started with winching earlier in the season. Without his advice and huge amount of help, we would have never taken the leap of faith to purchase an old warn out winch and almost completely overhaul or replace every component. Bill spent countless hours helping us to get to the point where we can really start going now as a club. Thanks Bill!

Here is a quick 15 second video of one of our launches:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10206694768880766

In a nutshell, we had a fun and safe weekend flying $3,500 worth of aero tows for only $100 in fuel and $100 in rope reserves while putting big smiles on lots of faces.

Bruno - B4

Sorry Bruno but no, you didn't prove that winching is safe, fun and low cost - you confirmed it. Millions of winch launches before yours have been the proof. A little less hype, please.

Are you thinking our sport needs less hype?

Carry on Bruno!

Bruno: how about winch launch day at 15 meter nationals rest day next year? ( I forgot , it's Utah. No rest days. 1000 k task every day. On the practice day then! )
John cochrane

On Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 5:08:09 PM UTC-6, John Cochrane wrote:
Bruno: how about winch launch day at 15 meter nationals rest day next year? ( I forgot , it's Utah. No rest days. 1000 k task every day. On the practice day then! )
John cochrane

Love the idea. I have thought maybe of being a sniffer for one day where we can launch first and show the rest of the field what a launch looks like. There are many pilots in the USA who have been flying for decades but who have still not seen a winch launch in person.

Another idea would be to hold a Regionals or OLC/XC Camp and it is limited to 30 gliders. We bring in a second winch and launch the entire fleet only by winching. Would be fun.

Bruno - B4