Hi, Bungy lunching has been revived after many years of disuse in Poland at the site of Bezmiechowa. In addition to bungy lunching they use a method called "gravitational launch" - just pushing the glider down the slope.
You can find two short movies showing both method at this site: http://www.aeroklub.poznan.pl/klub/wydarzenia/2004/bez04/19/index.htm The one labelled "start grawitacyjny" shows the gravitational launch: AVI file size is about 1.8MB. There are some pictures that show the gravitational launch at this site: http://www.republika.pl/aziemip/galeria.shtml - fourth row from the top. The path under constriction is to be able to launch nose-heavy gliders such as like Puchacz. Regards Jarek ----- Original Message ----- From: "Derek Ruddock" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia." <aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net> Sent: Monday, March 13, 2006 11:32 AM Subject: RE: [Aus-soaring] Reflex or bungy launching ? > They still bungy launch at the Long Mynd. Last time I looked they had > photos on their web site. No horse or car, just around 20 bodies and a > big rubber band :) > > The Essex Gliding club used to reverse pulley launch from North Weald > until the mid 80's. They may have some information of use > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:aus-soaring- > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Giddy > > Sent: Monday, 13 March 2006 11:16 AM > > To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. > > Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Reflex or bungy launching ? > > > > AFAIK, > > In classic Bungy Launching, there is no car. The ends of the bungy > cord > > are pulled forward of the glider by teams of helpers, or a horse > > (funny/sad apocryphal story about horse bungy...) when the bungy was > > stretched sufficiently, the glider was released, and used the stored > > energy in the bungy to get airborne. > > Bungy launches were/are usually done off a hilltop or cliff edge, so > the > > glider need not climb too much to reach a soarable height above the > > ground, and can use available ridge lift to continue soaring. > > John G. > > > > Michael Derry wrote: > > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pulleylaunch/ > > > cc: others > > > > > > Dear All > > > > > > It is interesting to hear stories about hiring a vehicle for a > weekend of > > > towing. It makes a lot of sense from the point of view that you have > an > > > operational and maintained vehicle ready to go. > > > > > > Launching in 1:1 or conventional autotow for that matter you have > the > > > problem of getting the tension right as the glider goes through the > wind > > > gradient. Using a weak link/stetchy polyprop rope and only a 6cyl > car in > > > nil or light winds minimises the likelyhood fo overspeeding however > if > > > this is not done correctly you can loose a couple of hundred feet > height > > > of what you really could get out of the launch. The problem > manifests > > > itself with less experienced drivers. On the positive side of > things, > > > the consequences of a less experienced driver do not seem to be as > bad as > > > with winching. > > > > > > A minor amount of training can overcome the problem. > > > > > > If of course you use 3:1 then it is a dead snap keeping the tension > > > exactly as you want it through the whole launch. > > > > > > I am interested to know more detail about bungy launching and how it > > > worked ? > > > -cars used > > > -engine size > > > -manual or auto transmission > > > -traction issues > > > -strip length verses launch height > > > -type of rope and length of rope > > > -glider type and weight > > > -what control was there over tension > > > -where it went wrong and was dangerous > > > -etc > > > -etc > > > -etc > > > > > > Cheers > > > > > > Michael Derry > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Aus-soaring mailing list > > > Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > > > To check or change subscription details, visit: > > > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Aus-soaring mailing list > > Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > > To check or change subscription details, visit: > > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
