What is your strip length, and what sort of altitudes do you get?
Dave Long From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dave Donald Sent: Wednesday, 25 November 2009 10:12 AM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Reflex car launching At Boonah we use an Auto-tow system with a 2-to-1 reduction and rope. The rope goes from the glider, around a fixed pulley (fixed in the ground but spins), under the F250 which has a pulley mounted horizontally and then back to a fixed point (the bottom of the fixed pulley) and attached by a shackle that can rotate. The launch vehicle is an F250 v8 that does the launch effortlessly. The rope is 10mm poly and absorbs any surges/thermals and provides a very smooth launch. The good thing about this system is that the launch vehicle actually heads towards the glider (from the other end of the strip) as part of the launch. The glider is always visible during the launch. When the glider releases the launch vehicle continues on and lays the rope at the launch point for the next launch. The impact on the surface of the strip (grass) due to the rope is minimal as are the sand tyres on the F250. While not as strictly 'reflex' launching as requested, it is still a very useful way of getting aircraft in the air (for $8). Regards, Dave
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