How Many Ways to Launch?

Rocket launch (aka White Knight)
Bicycle power "Gossamer Albatross across English Channel, right?"

In article ,
Steve Bralla wrote:
In article , Nyal Williams
writes:

At 17:00 26 December 2004, Shawn wrote:
OscarCVox wrote:
OK, I'll bite: name 10 (listing different makes of
tow vehicles or of tow
planes does not count)


Hmm I will try
1) Autotow
2) reverse pully auto tow
3) Winch
3a) winch with winch retrieve
4) Bungey
5) Shoulder launch
6) aerotow
7) Horse tow ( I know it sounds daft but I believe that
they used a horse and a
tow rope at Dunstable pre war)

Now i am stuck. Any others?


8)Balloon drop. Seen it for hang gliders
9)Helicopter drop (tail first-done in airshows)
10)Rocket launch
11)Aircraft drop-like Space Ship 1, X-n
12)Pay-out winch
13)Catapult? (How much altitude could you get off the
deck of a carrier?)
How about:
14) Hillside launch (rolling - only good for smaller/lighter
ships)
4) Bungee launch (requires being on a hill)
15) Self-launch (Eric's favorite)
16) Foot launch (for ultralights)
17) Kite launch (needs a lot of wind and some form of
mental
defect on the part of all concerned)
18?) Tornado launch (typical in central and southern US
- always with bad results)

and I'll add
19) Airship tow
20) Airship drop
21) Greased Board
We might get to 50!

Steve
Only 3 of the 21so far for me.


--

------------+
Mark J. Boyd

I believe the Wright brothers used a falling weight
tied to a pulley system -- 22




At 04:00 27 December 2004, Steve Bralla wrote:
In article , Nyal Williams
writes:

At 17:00 26 December 2004, Shawn wrote:
OscarCVox wrote:
OK, I'll bite: name 10 (listing different makes
of
tow vehicles or of tow
planes does not count)


Hmm I will try
1) Autotow
2) reverse pully auto tow
3) Winch
3a) winch with winch retrieve
4) Bungey
5) Shoulder launch
6) aerotow
7) Horse tow ( I know it sounds daft but I believe
that
they used a horse and a
tow rope at Dunstable pre war)

Now i am stuck. Any others?


8)Balloon drop. Seen it for hang gliders
9)Helicopter drop (tail first-done in airshows)
10)Rocket launch
11)Aircraft drop-like Space Ship 1, X-n
12)Pay-out winch
13)Catapult? (How much altitude could you get off the
deck of a carrier?)
How about:
14) Hillside launch (rolling - only good for smaller/lighter
ships)
4) Bungee launch (requires being on a hill)
15) Self-launch (Eric's favorite)
16) Foot launch (for ultralights)
17) Kite launch (needs a lot of wind and some form
of
mental
defect on the part of all concerned)
18?) Tornado launch (typical in central and southern
US
- always with bad results)

and I'll add
19) Airship tow
20) Airship drop
21) Greased Board
We might get to 50!

Steve
Only 3 of the 21so far for me.

"Andy Blackburn" wrote in message
...
I believe the Wright brothers used a falling weight
tied to a pulley system -- 22


Also the proposed launch system for the "Colditz Cock" -- bathtub down a
chimney launch.

Tim Ward

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.

At 21:00 26 December 2004, Nyal Williams wrote:
Incredibly, no one said aerotow; the initial poster
forbade different makes of tow planes but not aerotow.


To this I would add the snatched aero-tow used by C-47s
in WWII to pick up troop-carrying gliders.


At 20:00 26 December 2004, Goneill wrote:
Hillside launch (rolling - only good for smaller/lighter
ships)
I have seen a video clip of a jantar 2 rolling off
a hill
somewhere in Poland I think, so as long as the hill
has the
right shape a rolling launch can launch just about
any
glider
gary


'Andy Blackburn' wrote in message
...
At 17:00 26 December 2004, Shawn wrote:
OscarCVox wrote:
OK, I'll bite: name 10 (listing different makes
of
tow vehicles or of tow
planes does not count)


Hmm I will try
Autotow
reverse pully auto tow
Winch
winch with winch retrieve
Bungey
Shoulder launch
aerotow
Horse tow ( I know it sounds daft but I believe that
they used a horse and a
tow rope at Dunstable pre war)

Now i am stuck. Any others?


Balloon drop. Seen it for hang gliders
Helicopter drop (tail first-done in airshows)
Rocket launch
Aircraft drop-like Space Ship 1, X-n
Pay-out winch
Catapult? (How much altitude could you get off the
deck of a carrier?)


Not sure what a shoulder launch is - with my ship
it
would be tough on the old rotator cuff. I think a
Navy cat would likely rip the whole tow hook mechanism
right out of the fuselage.

How about:
Hillside launch (rolling - only good for smaller/lighter
ships)
Bungee launch (requires being on a hill)
Self-launch (Eric's favorite)
Foot launch (for ultralights)
Kite launch (needs a lot of wind and some form of
mental
defect on the part of all concerned)
Tornado launch (typical in central and southern US
- always with bad results)

reductio ad absurdum...

9B

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.


The version I heard may be a bit harder to substantiate but is rather more
colourful.

Apparently the horse was used to provide the power to extend the bungee.

The system apparently worked well until the occasion when the bungee broke
while under almost full tension.

The horse immediately went into a full gallop towards the horizon and was
never seen again.

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.

Aircraft Carrier Tow - just remembered, honest, I've
seen the photo's.

At 09:00 27 December 2004, Mike Lindsay wrote:
In article , Shawn writes
OscarCVox wrote:
OK, I'll bite: name 10 (listing different makes of
tow vehicles or of tow
planes does not count)


Hmm I will try
Autotow
reverse pully auto tow
Winch
winch with winch retrieve
Bungey
Shoulder launch
aerotow
Horse tow ( I know it sounds daft but I believe that
they used a horse and a
tow rope at Dunstable pre war)

Now i am stuck. Any others?


Balloon drop. Seen it for hang gliders
Helicopter drop (tail first-done in airshows)
Rocket launch
Aircraft drop-like Space Ship 1, X-n
Pay-out winch
Catapult? (How much altitude could you get off the
deck of a carrier?)

Gravity rope launch. AFAIK this has never been tried.

You need a disused mine shaft at one end of the runway,
you set up a
great big pulley over it. You run a cable from the
other end of the
runway, over the pulley and attach it to a weight.

Yo let the weight go and as it falls it pulls the glider
into the air.
Then you heave the weight up again.

There is a club in the west of England that has several
disused tin
mines nearby. Hmm.

--
Mike Lindsay

At 14:30 27 December 2004, Richard Brisbourne wrote:
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.


The version I heard may be a bit harder to substantiate
but is rather more
colourful.

Apparently the horse was used to provide the power
to extend the bungee.

The system apparently worked well until the occasion
when the bungee broke
while under almost full tension.

The horse immediately went into a full gallop towards
the horizon and was
never seen again.

You wouldn't be, either, if the bungee broke at the
glider end and it whacked your butt!

that was a Paul Simon reference
"Vorsanger1" wrote in message
...
"There must be fifty ways.." says Bob K.

OK, I'll bite: name 10 (listing different makes of tow vehicles or of tow
planes does not count)

Cheers, Charles

as many different ways people come up with.. they still fall into the 3
basic categories:
tow, ground, self

there was a video on a European web page.. of a glider bring dropped from
balloon.. it was one of the newer micro light ones.. I think..

BT

"Les Ward" wrote in message
...
I am interested in getting a sailplane and wondering what are the various
ways to launch. I am aware of the traditional methods.
Example= Steep downhill runway? Maybe I had too much coffee this morning!!
I live on Kauai and there are no Gliders on this Island at present.
Alo9ha, Les