The first words out of the wife's mouth was "They're cheating." I have no idea how many times we've launched on a hi-start, but it would be well in excess of a thousand I'm sure. Funny though, I've never done a winch launch. Back then we had kids to chase the hi-start most of the time. This brought back so many great memories. Thanks for the video y'all.
in my experience with thermal soaring I learned that those built-up planes don't penetrate as they need to to get around the sky and take advantage of thermals. At the same time, an electric winch gets you MUCH higher, where thermal lift seemed easier to find. After switching to composite type planes and an electric winch I soon found getting the plane down from spec-out height was more of a challenge than finding good lift to begin with. The first several times I got my plane up that high was a strange experience. There were times where the plane would be climbing so quickly I'd almost panic about losing it...I learned how to reflex the ailerons to pick up speed to get the heck out of those 'boomers'...The plane would sound like a jet from the speed it would hit when that happened. I miss flying those. Just when I was beginning to learn this stuff the club I belonged to lost it's field.
So peaceful. No whining motors. Just learning to fly, but I’m taken by the gliders. Managed to find a hobie hawk, and an un assembled Bird of Time. Flying an aero scout and a radian for now.
Looks like you have modded your Riser into a two piece wing. Very nice. 1 meter is so much easier to pack around than a two meter wing. Great flying. And, that is one bad ass go pro.
I haven't used a high start in years but when I did I enjoyed it. It would be interesting to see what height of launch you would get with say 50 feet of bungee and 100 feet of non stretchable line vs the 450 feet of equipment you are using currently. If the flight times aren't that much different it might be worth it if it was more manageable. That said I just bought a 100inch Olympus II and I'm putting an electric motor on it since the high start that came with it was dry rotted and the cost for the motor, esc, and propellor would be about the same as a new hight start. Love the show!
With the right airplane and conditions... I have launched a highly modified Great Planes Spirit on 10 meters of rubber and 50 meters of string and flown for 41 minutes.
