Rick, We use the club winches (FORD longshaft) with real balls loaded with 290# braided line. We set the length of the line to 175 paces. This works out to a full launch at about 5 seconds.
The winches are retrieved by the pilots to fly in the next group. The pilots in the last group retrieve for the pilots in the first group. (we have a program to schedule this). All fetchers are instructed to get the line back as quick as possible - in case of relites. After the initial launch any available winch can be used for the relite. This is because some fetchers will be slower than others due to physical abilities etc. It actually works quite well - there are not many simultaneous relites. We have at least 1 extra winch in each flight group. In the event of a pop-off or other reason for relite, the winch can be used by the first pilot requiring it. Landings are within 100 jimsteps of the landing spot. This is generous enough and easy to measure... :) I have a CD I made that I use with a Boom box to do the timing. I added a bunch of wire to the speaker wires and spread them out so everyone can hear well. This CD does an explicit countdown of the prep and working times, so the pilots only need one watch for their flight times and can listen to the announcements for the window time. It is one of our favorite formats. We always get a good turnout. The forecast looks pretty bad and deteriorating - if I was a betting man - we will have to postpone this event. Hope this helps - Jim Jim Monaco Jim Monaco President - Rocky Mountain Soaring Association Denver, CO http://www.rmsadenver.com -----Original Message----- From: Rick [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 4:15 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [RCSE] Denver F3J with Winches What kind of winches do you set up and use for this event?. Rick Richard Hallett Pittsfield Me Jim Monaco wrote: > If anyone happens to be in the Denver area Sunday, Rocky Mountain Soaring > Association is having the years first F3J with winches contest. Everyone is > welcome. The weekend weather is typical Denver, 60 on Saturday and 45 on > contest day with chance of snow showers. That 15 minute 9:00 AM round will be > interesting... :) > > If anyone needs directions, drop me an email. > > Jim Monaco > RMSA > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
