SAFE Winch Launching

Frank,

I believe that John Kangas is also mowing the King Mountain Glider Park
"Frank Whiteley" wrote in message ...
On Jul 13, 10:42 am, "Wayne Paul" wrote:

I concur that the US needs an economical way to launch sailplanes. As elsewhere in the world, a good winch seems to be the answer.

I don't have a ground-launch endorsement in my log book; however, I hope to get the training in the near future.

In order for the endorsement to have any value, I will need to install a CG hook on my HP-14 and travel to a facility with a winch. There are a couple of auto/truck ground launching operation less then 300 mile; however, I will have the travel about 700 mile to use a winch. This should give you some sense of the US lack of winch launch accessibility.


Wayne,

I was talking with Bill Corbin today about the prospect of finding a
winch for King Mountain. Any old Gehrlein model 62's languishing
about out there readers? We may be launching with one starting
Tuesday. I spent 8 hours on the tractor mowing the launch and
recovery area and runways today, such is the rain we've had in
Colorado this year.

Frank Whiteley