U.S. glider operations fuel prices

On Friday, November 30, 2012 5:55:43 PM UTC-7, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:10:19 -0800, Bill D wrote:



The key to keeping winch launch as cheap as possible is to make sure

everything possible has been done to prevent the winch from damaging the

rope. An old-style crossed roller fairlead absolutely murders rope.

The other is not to use a monster SUV to pull out the rope since they

can easily burn a tank of gas a day.



FWIW my club uses 4WD diesel Hilux pickup trucks to fetch cables from a

two cable winch. I know this may be a no-no on CA, but they're great

elsewhere. We have a grass field on heavy clay soil, so it doesn't drain

well ans is in the UK, so is often damp.



In dry conditions the Hiluxes do a good job on 2WD and normal tyres.

In winter we fit double wide tyres and tow in 4WD. If conditions are

really wet we use wide tyres, 4WD and only one cable.



Our usual run is 1360m (4460ft) and gives launches to 1200-2000 ft

depending on conditions.



I have never known a Hilux to use more than a fraction of a tank during a

full day's operations. On a busy summer day, 100 launches is not unknown,

though 40-50 is more usual.





--

martin@ | Martin Gregorie

gregorie. | Essex, UK

org |

Big retrieve vehicles are a legacy of steel cable winches. With Dyneema, I've seen a wing runner grab the rope and pull another 15 feet off the winch which was a mile away. Dyneema is so light and slippery a 125cc ATV is more than enough retrieve vehicle. I'm sure it could pull 4 ropes on wet grass.