Hey there all,
I was over at the WinchDoctor's hut in the woods this evening, and we
got to talking about winch power. "Winch power," he said, "...is like the
kind of power that those evil overloards in all those Sci-fi flicks you
watch strive to get... something like *ULTIMATE POWER* beyond your wildest
dreams..." He narrowed his eyes, " and it's usually their undoing. They get
too greedy for power, and their long shaft power crystal or whatever kind of
gizmo it
is, folds their wings at the top of the launch, Ker-Whack! ...and they
plummet into a pool of hot lava filled with hungry alligators. They were not
used to it, they just don't know how to handle it. They didn't know what
they were dealing with."
I asked the Winch Doc which movie that was, and he just scowled at me. He's
been scowling a lot lately, maybe he needs to go flying.
He shook his head, and muttered, "Real Balls" "REAL BALLS, I tell you, maybe
gliderkind was not ready for such power, perhaps I should NEVER have
developed them..." Now his brow was frought with worry, and his hair
resembled Einstein's tousled mop. I told him that the CA fumes must have
been getting to him. "Wait a minute, this is not like New-Clear power or
anything, it's a universal standard for power. What we really want is
consistant power across the country co that a winch you fly on on Ohio has
the same relative power as one in Florida, or California."
He began to explain,
"Long, long, ago, before the Bird of Time, the winches you would find were
powered by various different kinds of motors. Most of them were electric,
but some were gas powered, and some winches were wench powered!" He reminded
me about the "Swinnch" that Dave Thornburg designed some 30 years ago.
(Sorry, Dave)
"So one day someone decided that all the winch motors should be sort of the
same. They picked the Ford 'longshaft' starter motor, because there were
many all over and you could always get one at the junkyard for a mere $10.00
...when the F3B winch wars setteled down those europeans picked a Bosch
motor that was common to their junkyards. We also want to keep the machinery
relativly simple to reproduce with minimal tools. The F3B guys knew how
important it was to have universal power across
everyones's winches."
The quest for power got to the point that they were running motors on
36volts, cooling them with dry ice, anything to get that
edge of extra power, because "who launches highest, wins"
I know that we don't have any restrictive rules limiting the winches used in
AMA thermal duration, but most of the winches have about the same power
output, due to the Ford motor, "Real Balls"ball bearing end plates, the
sort-of standard 3" diameter hub, and the braided nylon line. Someday that
may change if enough people push for it.
My point is that everyone wants more power, lighter wing loading, faster
servos, brighter, whiter, teeth, higher launches, etc, etc, etc... it's just
human nature, and for the most part, there is no turning back.
But wait, there is a way to have your RES stick built plane, and zoom your
moldie, too, all on the same winch. If you have "Real Balls" installed on
your winch, you can just retard the timing and reduce the power output. Back
east they call it "ReTaaaH Dead"
When you get to the NATS, remember that the winches all have relativly the
same power output, like the horsepower specs for Rolls-Royce: "adequate"
Fly what you like, that's where the fun is.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy Page" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 10:30 AM
Subject: Re: [RCSE] Wing Abuse
> All this talk about "winch-proof" wings is getting to me.
> I made the mistake of questioning the more-power-is-better
> approach to launching on another forum and was summarily
> covered in dogma. Seems I just didn't understand...
>
> But I have to ask - why not put a little effort into the
> winches themselves? Seems like an awful lot of time/money/effort
> is going into wing strength that is only needed during launch.
>
> I found a write-up in a 30-year old Model Builder (great mag)
> the other day for a gas-powered winch with an adjustable clutch.
> It would launch the lightest built up model or a macho unlimited,
> no pulsing, no breakage. The clutch automatically compensates for
> gusts as well. Why did this never catch on?
>
> One analogy to current launch technique is to say that cordless
> drills should run at one (high) speed, no clutch - and that fastener
> manufacturers should invest heavily in materials and designs that
> are able to withstand the incredible force applied by the drill.
> Would that make sense?
>
> So let's hear from the experts, from people who've been around since
> before 12 volt winches and carbon fiber, from people who competed in the
> 70's with Windfrees and other such designs... but please keep your
> anger to yourselves, I'm not interested in being chewed out again. I just
> really want to know why winches don't have clutches. I'd like to
> be able to enter older and/or all-wood designs in contests without
> undue fear of destruction. Yes, I know how to pulse a winch... and
> no I've never used a winch with a clutch... and yes, I'm aware of
> and know how to use carbon to strengthen spars and plan on doing so on my
> next project...
>
>
>
> >From: "Marc Gellart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >To: "Dick Williamson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Subject: [RCSE] Wing Abuse
> >Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 11:53:06 -0400
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> >Importance: Normal
> >
> >Dick et. al.
> > When I hear about wings coming apart on launch, I have come to the
> >conclusion that fliers are not either reading their ships signals and
know
> >better or are not knowlegeable enough. The first bunch are the guys that
> >make me ache when I see them launch particularly built up ships or really
> >pretty Nostalgia ships. I will be the first to admit that I am agressive
> >on
> >launch, but when my Grand Esprit goes it is another story. Even ships
such
> >as the Psyho Lite and I would guess others do not have ultra stout wings
> >and
> >fliers have to watch what they are doing or there could be an ugly day.
I
> >have seen the Majestic plans and they are good wings, but not
> >industructable
> >nor immune to builder error. The only near industructable Majestic I
know
> >of is Rob Rlover's, but he did a major spar mod to make it that way.
> > Let your plane be your guide! Self destruction is ugly, except when
> >DS'ing.
> >
> >Marc
> >
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