Winch Launching

Rolfe:

Moved to England from North Carolina before last season. Three
thoughts on my experience changing over from aerotow to winch. First,
where I've flown (Long Mynd) the winch was only good for 1100 feet in
a two-seater (ASK21) flown by a winch novice like me. The old hands
didn't get more than a couple hundred feet above that. It was very
hard climbing out with so little time/altitude. I was spoiled by
2,000 ft plus aerotows. It was discouraging. Second, I almost got
myself into a real fix by not thinking of the airspace above and
around the winch run as different from the airspace around and above
an aerotow setup. Rules about the pattern--where and how it can be
joined need to be developed and reinforced to reflect the difference
of a cable sweeping through the airspace above the runway in a matter
of seconds with little or no warning to those flying in the vicinity.
Third, I used to see a wing drop every other day at the beginning of
launches at aerotow operations with no ill effects. As I understand
it, dropping a wing at the beginning of a winch launch can be very
dangerous, so I was told to stay vigilant and keep a hand on the cable
release should a wing drop.

Kevin



On 4 Jan, 23:42, Rolf wrote:
Caesar Creek Soaring Club is investigating the possibility of winch
launching on our field. As expected there are very polarized opinions
on the merits, value, and safety of winch launching. I would
appreciate any rational inputs on the merits of winching or reference
data from other sites on training merits and safety. Actual experience
data would also be appreciated.
Thanks

Rolf Hegele
President, CCSC