the trend is............

On Oct 21, 9:29*pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:29:16 -0600, Bill Daniels wrote:
snip

These are likely to be extremely automated winches so I wouldn't pay a
winch driver very much - if anything. *Professional winch drivers are
likely to go extinct the way elevator (Lift?) operators did.

Point, but if the club is operating 7 days a week with almost continuous
training courses you need a paid winch driver no matter how easy the
winch is to operate.

If the club is that active then you need 2 or 3 paid winch drivers.
Ours do a lot of other work when it's not flying weather, and one of
them will be a Glider Inspector soon as well.

On Oct 19, 4:56 pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:

I know places where you can winch straight into wave....


I know a place where you can catapult ( bungee) launch straight into wave.
I just checked my log book and there were 17 occasions when I did this (
Olympia 2b, Dart 17r and Kestrel 19)| - 4 of these were climbs above gold
height, best being 18500ft above launch. Now thats the way to go !!!!!

On Oct 22, 8:45*am, "Welsh Druid" wrote:
On Oct 19, 4:56 pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:

I know places where you can winch straight into wave....

I know a place where you can catapult ( bungee) launch straight into wave..
I just checked my log book and there were 17 occasions when I did this (
Olympia 2b, Dart 17r and Kestrel 19)| - *4 of these were climbs above gold
height, best being 18500ft above launch. *Now thats the way to go !!!!!

Next of all someone will know where they could launch from a kerb
straight into wave and do a Diamond height in a Primary Glider!

I know a place where you can catapult ( bungee) launch straight into wave..
I just checked my log book and there were 17 occasions when I did this (
Olympia 2b, Dart 17r and Kestrel 19)| - *4 of these were climbs above gold
height, best being 18500ft above launch. *Now thats the way to go !!!!!

Ever tried to buy one of those big rubber bands lately? They were over
$8,000 apiece for a smallish one some years ago, when gas was cheap
and the exchange rate was favorable...I would love to find a place I
could do it none the less though!

Perhaps even greener than a bungee launch though, is a rolling gravity
launch (rolling into the wind, down a hill steeper than your glider's
L/D...). See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwVRLw7TD5I --Apis
Gravity Launch and also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klkFm...eature=related --Polish
Vid w/PW-6 Gravity Launch in Middle

-Paul

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:13:29 -0700, Cats wrote:

On Oct 22, 8:45Â*am, "Welsh Druid" wrote:
On Oct 19, 4:56 pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:

I know places where you can winch straight into wave....

I know a place where you can catapult ( bungee) launch straight into
wave. I just checked my log book and there were 17 occasions when I did
this ( Olympia 2b, Dart 17r and Kestrel 19)| - Â*4 of these were climbs
above gold height, best being 18500ft above launch. Â*Now thats the way
to go !!!!!

Next of all someone will know where they could launch from a kerb
straight into wave and do a Diamond height in a Primary Glider!

Luxury! We used to dream of having a kerb when I were a lad...


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

At 00:08 22 October 2008, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:15:43 -0700, toad wrote:

On Oct 19, 4:56Â*pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:

I know places where you can winch straight into wave....

The nicest one I know was several years ago at Portmoak (Scotland), in
the days when glider fuselages were doped canvas over steel tube and
wood. I was told this story during a recent visit which, alas, got me no

wave climbs though the ridge was fun for this flatland pilot.

An older pilot took a winch launch, noticed weak wave at release and sat

there, going slowly but surely up above the winch, eventually
disappearing upwards. The next few gliders to launch headed for the
ridge, missing the wave.

Eventually our pilot reappeared and landed. He was apparently a stroppy
guy and was quite loud about the idiots who'd headed for the ridge
instead of seeing and following him. Anyway, when asked how high he'd
got, he said "18,000 feet". People knew his altimeter was dodgy and
asked
how he decided when to come down. His reply was that when his cigarette
went out for the third time he knew he was high enough!

Yep, Polish Joe in his LSpatz, I was there when this happened. Sadly Joe
died last year after many years at Portmoak. He once winch launched me in
a K13 where the cable was paying out faster in the second half of the
launch than it was going in on the first half. Scary stuff

On Oct 22, 9:51*pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:13:29 -0700, Cats wrote:
On Oct 22, 8:45*am, "Welsh Druid" wrote:
On Oct 19, 4:56 pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:

I know places where you can winch straight into wave....

I know a place where you can catapult ( bungee) launch straight into
wave. I just checked my log book and there were 17 occasions when I did
this ( Olympia 2b, Dart 17r and Kestrel 19)| - *4 of these were climbs
above gold height, best being 18500ft above launch. *Now thats the way
to go !!!!!

Next of all someone will know where they could launch from a kerb
straight into wave and do a Diamond height in a Primary Glider!

Luxury! We used to dream of having a kerb when I were a lad...


We only had a small pebble.

(Sorry this is a UK thing!)

You had a pebble? Sheer luxury!

Cats wrote:
On Oct 22, 9:51 pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:13:29 -0700, Cats wrote:
On Oct 22, 8:45 am, "Welsh Druid" wrote:
On Oct 19, 4:56 pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
I know places where you can winch straight into wave....
I know a place where you can catapult ( bungee) launch straight into
wave. I just checked my log book and there were 17 occasions when I did
this ( Olympia 2b, Dart 17r and Kestrel 19)| - 4 of these were climbs
above gold height, best being 18500ft above launch. Now thats the way
to go !!!!!
Next of all someone will know where they could launch from a kerb
straight into wave and do a Diamond height in a Primary Glider!
Luxury! We used to dream of having a kerb when I were a lad...


We only had a small pebble.

(Sorry this is a UK thing!)

On Oct 23, 10:07*am, Bruce wrote:
You had a pebble? Sheer luxury!



Cats wrote:
On Oct 22, 9:51 pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:13:29 -0700, Cats wrote:
On Oct 22, 8:45 am, "Welsh Druid" wrote:
On Oct 19, 4:56 pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
I know places where you can winch straight into wave....
I know a place where you can catapult ( bungee) launch straight into
wave. I just checked my log book and there were 17 occasions when I did
this ( Olympia 2b, Dart 17r and Kestrel 19)| - *4 of these were climbs
above gold height, best being 18500ft above launch. *Now thats the way
to go !!!!!
Next of all someone will know where they could launch from a kerb
straight into wave and do a Diamond height in a Primary Glider!
Luxury! We used to dream of having a kerb when I were a lad...

We only had a small pebble.

(Sorry this is a UK thing!)-

Thinking about it it was a grain of sand!

Sorry you UK guys and gals are so deprived. We colonials would be
happy to provide you with an unlimited assortment of sand grains,
pebbles, rocks and boulders - just pay the shipping!

-John

Cats wrote:
Luxury! We used to dream of having a kerb when I were a lad...

We only had a small pebble.

(Sorry this is a UK thing!)-

Thinking about it it was a grain of sand!