How Many Ways to Launch?

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?)

There was an article in S & G some years ago concerning some experiments
done by the Fleet Air Arm just after WWII looking at airflows around
aircraft carriers. IIRC they used a Slingsby Tutor modified with chord
extensions to give an extremely low stalling speed: this was tethered, with
pilot in, and became airborne easily behind a ship steaming into wind.

Not sure if this counts.

"Shawn" sdotherecurry@bresnananotherdotnet wrote in message
...
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?)

Helicopter tow has also been done (without the drop bit).

Crane drops have been done a couple of times, but the gliders weren't rigged
so the resulting flight was short and pilotless. At least one resulted in a
water landing. I seem to recall another pitched off the top of the
containers in a 'storm launch'.;^)

I seem to recall pictures of horse tows of Primary gliders from a book I've
thumbed through. One of John Campbell's IIRC.

Here's one unsuccessful hybrid horse/bungee attempt
http://www.aerofiles.com/memories.html
There's are accounts of horse tows of the Baby Albatross here
http://www.twitt.org/MitchellHistory.html

Frank Whiteley

"OscarCVox" wrote in message
...
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. Not used much for sailplanes, but reasonably common for hang
gliders a number of years ago.
Also proposed as a launch method for a high-altitude atmosphere sampling
project using something that looked an awful lot like a sailplane.

Tim Ward

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?

Me162 was rocket launched glider. (So are Starship one and the Space Shuttles)
Kiting with no ground run - (know of one inadvertent launch this way.)
Self launch with internal combustion (piston reciprocating and turbine)

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

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

Speaking of launches, any luck looking into those tow rings, Gary?

Paul


"goneill" wrote in message
...
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

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

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.

Actually, when I first posted and asked about naming 10 ways to launch, I was
hoping to get some *practical* methods applicable to sailplanes. The proposed
solutions so far remind me of the old joke for the definition of a consultant:
a fellow who knows 37 positions for sex, but does not have a girlfriend of his
own.

Cheers, Charles