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#1
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Winch Launching in US
I have recently started gliding again after a long absense. I no longer have
funds to support my power plane habit and am soaring as less expensive means of getting airborne. I am surprised to see that winch tows in the USA are still almost non existant. Why not. Surely a winch is much cheaper than a tow plane. I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the price! I would appreciate readers of the new group to educate me. |
#2
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Winch Launching in US
On Jun 5, 8:22*am, "john hawkins" wrote:
I have recently started gliding again after a long absense. I no longer have funds to support my power plane habit and am soaring as less expensive means of getting airborne. I am surprised to see that winch tows in the USA are still almost non existant. Why not. Surely a winch is much cheaper than a tow plane. I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the price! I would appreciate readers of the new group to educate me. Presuming you're the NC Hawkins, winching is being done in Florida and South Carolina. There's some auto tow also done in South Carolina, but privately. I've previously suggested to a member of NCSA at Harnett County Regional that they consider winching (which I believe the club did at another location in their past). There's space and it can be done safely as at municipal/public airports in MN, TX, OK, CO, NV, CA, NY, and soon in WA. There's also winching at clubs in LA, PA, AZ, and auto tow in some other places. Frank Whiteley |
#3
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Winch Launching in US
In Arizona, Prescott Soaring Society uses a winch exclusively, and
Tucson Soaring Club has been working on getting one operational for a year or two now. The El Paso Soaring Society also has a winch (fairly new I think) but they don't yet use it as much as their tow plane. So there seems to be a trend in the direction of more winch usage, albeit very slow. I hope it speeds up. 2NO |
#4
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Winch Launching in US
Presuming you're the NC Hawkins, winching is being done in Florida and South Carolina. There's some auto tow also done in South Carolina, but privately. I've previously suggested to a member of NCSA at Harnett County Regional that they consider winching (which I believe the club did at another location in their past). There's space and it can be done safely as at municipal/public airports in MN, TX, OK, CO, NV, CA, NY, and soon in WA. There's also winching at clubs in LA, PA, AZ, and auto tow in some other places. Frank Whiteley Hi Frank, where in Florida are the winch launches? Thanks! tom |
#5
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Winch Launching in US
On Jun 5, 1:22*pm, vic20owner wrote:
Presuming you're the NC Hawkins, winching is being done in Florida and South Carolina. *There's some auto tow also done in South Carolina, but privately. *I've previously suggested to a member of NCSA at Harnett County Regional that they consider winching (which I believe the club did at another location in their past). *There's space and it can be done safely as at municipal/public airports in MN, TX, OK, CO, NV, CA, NY, and soon in WA. *There's also winching at clubs in LA, PA, AZ, and auto tow in some other places. Frank Whiteley Hi Frank, where in Florida are the winch launches? Thanks! tom oops, my bad, they were discussing it, but perhaps haven't initiated operations yet. Everglades Soaring Club was certainly looking into it. Maybe Mike Schumann will update. Frank |
#6
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Winch Launching in US
On Jun 5, 2:49*pm, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Jun 5, 1:22*pm, vic20owner wrote: Presuming you're the NC Hawkins, winching is being done in Florida and South Carolina. *There's some auto tow also done in South Carolina, but privately. *I've previously suggested to a member of NCSA at Harnett County Regional that they consider winching (which I believe the club did at another location in their past). *There's space and it can be done safely as at municipal/public airports in MN, TX, OK, CO, NV, CA, NY, and soon in WA. *There's also winching at clubs in LA, PA, AZ, and auto tow in some other places. Frank Whiteley Hi Frank, where in Florida are the winch launches? Thanks! tom oops, my bad, they were discussing it, but perhaps haven't initiated operations yet. Everglades Soaring Club was certainly looking into it. Maybe Mike Schumann will update. Frank Mike reports that one of the northern operations may operate in Florida next winter for a couple of months. Would be a good opportunity to get some training and a sign-off and keep the rust off. Frank |
#7
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Winch Launching in US
I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the
price! So how much does a the new winch you were looking at cost? Looks like there are two groups discussing how make one: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/winchdesign/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/winchengineer/ What does a winch tow usually cost? |
#8
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Winch Launching in US
On Jun 6, 11:33*am, Bret wrote:
I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the price! So how much does a the new winch you were looking at cost? Looks like there are two groups discussing how make one:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/winchd...winchengineer/ What does a winch tow usually cost? Update: only groups.yahoo.com/group/winchdesign is for making your own. groups.yahoo.com/group/winchengineer/ is about modern commercial winches. the club did at another location in their past). There's space and it can be done safely as at municipal/public airports in MN, TX, OK, CO, NV, CA, NY, and soon in WA. Logan UT Cache Valley Soaring is hoping to get their old winch running. |
#9
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Winch Launching in US
On 5 June, 15:22, "john hawkins" wrote:
I have recently started gliding again after a long absense. I no longer have funds to support my power plane habit and am soaring as less expensive means of getting airborne. I am surprised to see that winch tows in the USA are still almost non existant. Why not. Surely a winch is much cheaper than a tow plane. I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the price! I would appreciate readers of the new group to educate me. There is some interest |
#10
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Winch Launching in US
On 5 June, 15:22, "john hawkins" wrote:
I have recently started gliding again after a long absense. I no longer have funds to support my power plane habit and am soaring as less expensive means of getting airborne. I am surprised to see that winch tows in the USA are still almost non existant. Why not. Surely a winch is much cheaper than a tow plane. I see that a new winch is manufactured in CA but My god the price! I would appreciate readers of the new group to educate me. There is some interest in winch launching in the US, but instead of just importing or copying some well proven European designs, the leading lights decided to build their own 'superwinches' which are still under development with no guarantee that they will be any better or safer! In fact so far the reverse seems to be true. |
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