How Many Ways to Launch?

Snowmobile.

Back in the early 70s, The Gatineau Gliding Club of Ottawa (Canada) made
a winter sale of one of their 2-22s. Trouble was their hangar was on the
far side of the well-snowed-in airfield.

We got the glider out on the windswept ramp, a trailer on the perimeter
road across the field about 1/2 mile away, hooked the 2-22 to a
snowmobile with a towrope, and let'er rip.

The snowmobile had just enough speed and power to get the glider into
the air in ground effect and heading for the roadside fenceline. My
problem was timing the release - too soon and it would be down in the
deep snow too far from the fence. I don't recall how close I came but I
remember the derigging as not being a problem.

I logged myself a 1 minute flight.

Chris Rollings wrote:

I think the horse at Dunstable was only used to pull
gliders to the top of the (300 feet or so) hill, where
they were bungee launched.


Anyway a horse tow was used for what is probably one of the
first flights in gliding history, in the middle of the 19th
a glider designed, built and flown by a french navy officer
named Le Bris was launched in this way. The story says that
the tow rope then catched the horse rider who made in this way
a short unplanned flight. This was probably the first dual
flight in aviation history.

Maybe not for a true glider, but the Wright brothers used it to help launch
their flyer. Maybe they used it for gliders before motorizing??

Gravity rope launch. AFAIK this has never been tried.