The problem: The increasing cost of launching gliders with heavily regulated tow aircraft, the need for increasingly rare tailwheel qualified tow pilots and the noise complaints of airport neighbors are making it harder for clubs and individuals to operate their gliders economically. We see this as a major contributor to the decline in the number of active glider pilots worldwide.

This group will begin by collecting and displaying in one location the best ideas for constructing a glider launching winch. It is hoped that the ideas displayed will come from individuals and organizations worldwide.

The long term goal is to use these "best of breed" ideas to develop a set of production drawings for a "Standard Reference Design" that can be built by glider clubs using readily available materials and parts. The winch construction should not require skills beyond those typically found in glider clubs. Nevertheless, where appropriate, state of the art technology will be incorporated.

It may develop that certain parts will be difficult to fabricate or otherwise make more sense to purchase. In this case, this group will try to identify sources for these parts, or in the case of custom parts, make available production drawings so that they can be contracted to local machine shops.

[Courtesy of Bill Daniels]