It takes a looooong time to build hours on short winch launch operations, but that kick in the pants from the launch makes it all worthwhile!

Mark Wild ran the Black Forest Glider Port just north of Colorado Springs. They were a winch operation. Lots of diamond flights were made out of there. Good thermals and a strong mountain wave just a few miles to the west made for good long flights.

After Mark sold the field and operation in about mid to late 1980s it did not last long. The real estate developers snatched it up and the glider port moved to Kelly Air Park. A real shame, It was a beautiful location and great place to soar.

Once upon a time I wanted my Aero-Tow Only limitation removed. I rode through the first/demo winch launch <GULP> decided that I was just fine the limitation.

Once upon a time I wanted my Aero-Tow Only limitation removed. I rode through the first/demo winch launch <GULP> decided that I was just fine the limitation.

I would love that

For me, the worst part was the steep pitch angle so close to the ground. Essentially flying a circumferential arc of decreasing radius. If the rope broke, I am not certain that there was sufficient energy to get the nose far enough down, quickly enough, to stop bleeding energy.

Yeah, looking at the wingtip flex on the olde Blanik was another lump-in-throat moment. I think it was the next year that most (all?) the Blaniks were grounded (due to wing issues?).

I would love to try that open cockpit glider.

As for building hours… my favorite uncle was an active glider instructor. It took him like 20 years to get 100 hours of glider time.

There was a season when his club didn’t have a tow plane and did auto tows instead. The glider had similar performance to the barge in that video. I can attest that there’s plenty of energy to get the nose down if needed.

The guy driving the tow vehicle was apparently a guy whose enthusiasm outpaced his intellect. I flew the first auto tow of the day with my uncle in the backseat. The driver had neglected to refuel the vehicle, and we were about halfway into our tow when the engine died. We were nose up at least 30°, about 500 feet, maybe 1200’ of runway remaining, and only 10 kn above the stall when we noticed that we couldn’t feel the tug and our airspeed was decaying. It doesn’t take a hard push to get the nose to come down in that situation.

My uncle was a master of these old gliders, and was able to do S turns to bring us to a smooth landing on the remaining runway. I was maybe 15 and too naïve to understand how dangerous that situation was until well after we were on the ground.

I don't think there's any issue with losing energy and stalling close to the ground on a winch launch. Sailplanes just don't decelerate that quickly unless you open the boards. You'd definitely want to pitch over rapidly but only to level flight and that wouldn't take more than a second or two plus, as long as you're unloading the wing the stall speed goes to near zero.

Also a rope break as you're climbing on a winch would be so obvious you would notice right away even if you were focused on something else (which you won't be either).

You don't even need to push, just don't hold the nose up. With the lack of thrust from the rope, the nose will come down on it's own as the glider decelerates. It won't stall.

Wow... thanks for posting this.

Summer of 1990, I joined the British Gliding Club at RAF Upwood in East Anglia, near where I was stationed. Everything there was done via winch launch.

I only flew with them for a few months, but they had a T-21 and I got a few flights in it.

They had an instructor there that flew troop gliders in the war. The guy was amazing and could find lift even in the worst conditions.

Maybe I'll go get my glider rating... finally.

Thanks for the memory.

Edit: looks like they still exist. https://www.nvgc.org.uk/