Glider Winch Breaking a Weak Link

In this short video we broke a weak link during a winch launch. The weak link is designed to break at a certain strain on the rope, to avoid damage to either the winch or the glider. While not an incident or glider accident, it's just part of winching.
The main cause of this was the winch was running too fast at the top of the launch, when the power should be reduced.
A rope break can happen at any height, and we are taught how to handle any situation on the winch to avoid a glider crash.
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00:00 Winch Launch

[@gerrycollins2335]

I was learning to glide on a very blustery day. It was too windy to use the wood/fabric K13 which was the only glider I knew, so I was introduced to a fibreglass K21. I flew the first winch launch and the weak link broke at about 650 feet. I managed to fly an abbreviated circuit and land. My instructor said the launch failure was my fault for pulling back too hard: I didn't feel I had done that, although I accepted his verdict as I had never flown that type before. We had a second attempt with me piloting, and again the weak link broke half way up - we landed OK and this time the instructor said that this time it may not have been my fault. He would fly the third launch, as these weak links are not cheap to replace. He couldn't see the smirk on my face when a third link broke. Gliding was abandoned for the day.

[@PureGlide]

Haha I wonder what was wrong?! Wrong weak link? Or winch too fast? Or something else?

[@MarcoNierop]

I have flown both the ASK13 and ASK21. If you are used to the ASK13, you know you have to pull really hard almost during the whole winch launch... With the ASK21, when trim is set neutral, you do not have to pull as hard as with the ASK13, so I can imagine you pulled too hard when you fly the ASK21 the first time... But the man on the winch also has a role... because if he had put the right amount of power, when pulling too hard the speed would reduce rather quickly, and you would have eased on the stick to compensate for that.. But that did not seem to happen, so the man on the winch gave too much power... and then the weak link breaks.

[@monza1002000]

K21s are quite heavy so possibly the winch driver was being a little to enthusiastic?

[@firnen_]

@@MarcoNierop I can second this. I started flying on an ASK 13 as well and transitioned to an ASK 21 this year, and on the 13 you often have the stick almost full back during the launch, while on the 21 you can almost keep it neutral for the initial part of the launch and only pull slightly later on. It's a completely different feel and also made my first launch in the 21 way too steep. Didn't break the weak link, but my instructor wasn't happy with me regardless :)

[@voornaam3191]

When the weak links for sale are a bit too weak for certain planes, winch operator and pilot need to be more gentle, and you need some luck. Crossing a thermal means clunk. For some planes, the club (or you) needs to buy "special" weak links. So be it.

[@casaamaril]

Well I wouldn't complain at 1800 feet, it's a good reminder though at the start of the season to train your mind and to be prepared

[@Paul-vh6ul]

It is the end of the season in New Zealand where this video was shot.

[@casaamaril]

@@Paul-vh6ul It's all upside down down there, it's the start of the season for us here in Europe, but Pure Glide makes educational videos and I really enjoy them.

[@PureGlide]

The beginning of the winter season I like to call it! Here's what last winter looked like kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnWvm5Keibd5b7s

[@monza1002000]

1800ft? WoW 1200ft is good at my field. We practice cable breaks anywhere from 300ft to 800ft

[@MrBJPitt]

@@monza1002000 maybe it's 1800 feet msl? It certainly doesn't look 1800ft agl imo.

[@Pete-tq6in]

I had a cable break at 500ft on the day I went solo. It was an awkward height, too little runway left to land straight ahead but low to be cranking around in turns. I got the nose down as soon as the cable snapped, got slightly negative G and everything in the cockpit floated for a second or so. Established safe manoeuvring speed and flew a very abbreviated circuit before landing safely. I think that it was the fact that I handled it well that gave my instructor the confidence to send me solo later that day. Nobody forgets their first solo!

[@PureGlide]

Hey sounds like you did exactly what you're meant to, so well done :)

[@potrzebieneuman4702]

That happened to me too, the club used fencing wire as the winch cable, I think because it could be tied if and when it breaks. It was my first solo after 10 hours and 15 minutes of training. The aircraft was an L13 Blanik and the take off was normal, I had no time to be nervous and at about 320 feet there was a bang and everything went suddenly deathly quiet, the cable had parted. After pulling bung twice to dump the cable and small parachute I instinctively jammed the stick forward, I thought for a couple of seconds I had bent it...that was how hard I pushed it forward. After checking height which was about 300 feet and then airspeed I recalled the training instructions, 300 feet land straight ahead, over 300 perform a modified circuit. I figured here was plenty of room and landed straight ahead and climbed out of the cockpit and THEN my knees went a bit wobbly. All in all a positive experience but not one I could recommend.

[@gliding_soaring]

500ft is not awkward height - it is safe height giving you many options and time to consider them. 200ft on short airfield will raise your blood pressure!

[@Pete-tq6in]

@@gliding_soaring, it was an awkward height because it left just enough space to not be able to land ahead, if I’d tried to land ahead I’d have ended up through the hedge at the end of the strip. 200ft off a short airfield leaves you only one option and one decision to make, not whether you’ll try to circuit and return to the airfield but rather which field you’ll land in. Anyway, how can you winch launch off an airfield that’s so short that a cable break at 200ft means you cannot land straight ahead? Where exactly is the winch and cable situated on this hypothetical airfield of yours?

[@Pete-tq6in]

@@gliding_soaring, did you read my comment? I flew an abbreviated circuit and did not go through the hedge. That is exactly what made the break height awkward - There was nearly enough room to land ahead but not quite enough, so I made the decision to fly the abbreviated circuit and landed safely. My instructor sent me solo later in the day, after a simulated cable break at around 250ft which I landed straight ahead.

[@bkailua1224]

Having run a winch that reads rope tension for the last 5 years and over 4500 launches, I can say the load goes up exponentially near top of climb. The winch driver needs to really back off the power during the last phase of the max climb. Very common problem with new winch drivers.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah absolutely, I should have caught it quicker too..

[@maxmerkel1087]

No, it’s the problem of the pilot. If you see that the speed is rising, push the stick to reduce the force and talk to the winch or the start to reduce the towing speed. As a glider pilot you should know, that speed and direction of the wind are sometimes changing suddenly, like wind shear occur. You have to react at first. Sometimes, especially when towing light wooden gliders, it’s impossible to tow as slow as needed for the glider, because you’re already at minimum towing speed of the winch and the hook is permanently near to releasing from the glider. Sometimes it’s gusty and you’re permanently throttling the winch up and down without having the chance to maintain the right towing speed. And often bad pilots cause bad towings because of too high or too low angle of attack during the towing. If it’s too fast for your plane, push the stick, communicate and sometimes release from the winch and go away. I once kicked a very high trained pilot at about 750 ft out of the towing, because he permanently screamed faster, slower, faster, slower. He obviously wasn’t able to deal with this towing.Overspeed won’t kill you, if it’s not much too high and even a ASK 8 doesn’t break at 75 kt if you release the stick.

[@henrikcarlsen1881]

How did you implement the rope-tension thing on the winch? A radio-sensor at the chute?

[@Ritefita]

@@henrikcarlsen1881the tension is the same for the whole rope. idk. I thing just a load on the motor is informative enough

[@ZWD2011]

Plus the pilot has to ease back on the stick at the end. I think that is more important than reducing the speed. We find that more than 90% of weak link breakage is in the final stage of the launch. How do we know? Because we almost always have to walk a long way to retrieve the weak link.

[@granthamilton2695]

I did my first solo at that site on 22 July 1972. Flew K13 GFN. Roger Brown was my instructor. I’m still gliding nearly 50 years later. Over 3000 winch launches. If that launch is as bad as it gets then you’re doing really well. My most frightening was in a K4 having just established full climb only to see a C130 at about half a mile and below 1000ft heading straight for us, we released and he pulled a max turn to avoid. He was doing a tactical exercise approach to a nearby airport. All part of life’s rich tapestry

[@PureGlide]

Wow that sounds amazing and terrifying! Roger is still flying too at our club.

[@AD7ZJ]

We winch exclusively with a manual winch, gliders always communicate directly with the winch and make speed calls on the way up kind of like you're doing. The driver continually reduces power as the glider approaches the top until tension is off the cable, then instructs the pilot to release. Nice video, fun to see how others are doing it.

[@PureGlide]

Sounds very similar! Except we didn't quite get the reducing power right this time...

[@DB-thats-me]

Only two other ways to leave the planet faster. Saturn V, or F111. 👍

[@PureGlide]

Haha the Saturn V would be quite a thing to experience

[@BenMitro]

@@PureGlide The flames are fierce - they might damage your glider...

[@paulfreer1302]

Learnt in K4 and soloed in K2 . Best cable launch I got was 1400. 1200 was average That launch was to dream of

[@PureGlide]

Ha yes it's amazing how high you can get when you break things :) 1800' is QNH, so 1600' AGL (200' airfield altitude)

[@Liger._King]

Beautiful view. The pilot wasn’t a bit worried because it obviously happened so smoothly. I need to fly too.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah it's not TOO big of a deal, we try and not do it, but not the end of the world...

[@chrisglen-smith7662]

My instructor in 1981 on a week gliding course when I was 17 was one Derek Piggott, he was so good., may he rest in peace. Sadly I didn't have the time or resources to keep in gliding then.

[@PureGlide]

Wow that’s not a bad instructor to end up with! He’s well know world wide for his books in Particular. A legend!

[@markhenri1131]

I’ve only done tow plane launches. You guys have some balls with the winch!

[@PureGlide]

Haha you get used to it, plenty of clubs around the world only winch

[@misarthim6538]

Quite honestly, on a hot day, I'll take winch over tow plane any time :-D

[@Cirrus4000]

That looks pretty high for a cable break. My past ones have been more during the mid climb.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah it was weak link break. At the top is the most pressure on it.

[@daszieher]

@@PureGlide in the old days, with enough headwind, the winch driver sometimes could slow the winch to a halt and the tube and rag glider (K8) would continue climbing like a kite. one even claimed that it was even possible to roll out some cable under slight braking (from the winch). I doubt this would work well on more modern gliders.

[@henrikcarlsen1881]

@@daszieher In our club some claim to have done that and actually been able to do a second pull to gain even better height (I love the K8a - when it's not windy)

[@daszieher]

@@henrikcarlsen1881 Great turner and nicely balanced, docile plane. Just never try to go fast. All you'll do is burn altitude :D Even after progressing to cleaner and better performing "plastic" gliders, the K8a still maintains a warm spot in my heart. After a long hiatus I'm looking to rejoining a club after moving houses, and that club has one or two K8's.

[@yellow326]

Interesting to see how other clubs do launches. Our gliders rarely use radio (the K13, which I'm training in, isn't even fitted with one), so once the all-out is called you're on your own.

[@PureGlide]

Can't imagine not having a radio!

[@seal7463]

@@PureGlide In our club we signal with the plane. Pitch nose down and up to go faster, and yaw left to right to go slower.

[@bananajoe3669]

"70... 65... 60..." Nice, human "Skylaunch" telemetric system... 😆👍

[@donaldwainwright]

So many happy memories of flying a glider

[@PureGlide]

Glad we can help :)

[@pompeymonkey3271]

Some instructors would say that you were pulling back on the stick too much. So what? the weak-link did its job! ;)

[@PureGlide]

I may have been but because the winch was going too fast at the top I would over speed if I let the nose down

[@tgiskardify]

@@PureGlide I'm only aerotow rated, but I thought on a winch pulling back increased your speed and lowering the nose reduced it?

[@PureGlide]

@@tgiskardify Almost, but completely the opposite :)

[@tgiskardify]

@@PureGlide Interesting, the FAA is misleading us in the handbook then. www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aircraft/glider_handbook/media/gfh_ch07.pdf (Wouldn't be the first time, the aerotow turning signals are reversed in the same chapter.)

[@PureGlide]

@@tgiskardify I couldn’t find the but that’s around the wrong way! What page?

[@GiuseppeSRedSky]

Just subscribed. I'm not a glider pilot but have been a glider student

[@PureGlide]

If you’ve been a student then you can call yourself a glider pilot :)

[@MarcoNierop]

Cool that New Zealand also uses Winch launches.. Its the norm right here in The Netherlands.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah our club doesn't use it all the time, only occasionally, but it's handy to have when the tow plane breaks down for some reason!

[@iainmillar1532]

@@PureGlide Which club? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to use the winch over the tug? Cheers!

[@PureGlide]

@@iainmillar1532 Yes it is cheaper, $20NZD per launch instead of $40 to 1500 feet. However it won't take you where you want to go, and requires more ground people to run it, so we usually fly the tow plane.

[@PureGlide]

@@iainmillar1532 Piako Gliding Club, Matamata, New Zealand

[@Johan-ex5yj]

I'm a Rocket Man Rocket Man, burning out his fuse (weak link) up here alone… ...... Oh Shhh……, back to earth again…. 😁 (Sorry Elton John for modifying the lyrics of your song.)

[@PureGlide]

Love it

[@davide646]

LOL

[@90secondsofaviation86]

Channel is growing fast!

[@PureGlide]

Cheers! Getting there slowly...

[@justeauanka6017]

Ah! Instructors ! Gods chosen few. Always never wrong ! I was shown How to fly by a wonderful pilot, never blamed, never raised his voice. Went solo, never looked back, that was until I met all the others. They were called and call themselves, INSTRUCTORS ! What it must be like to be that good . . . . . . .

[@PureGlide]

This one is always making mistakes…

[@justeauanka6017]

@@PureGlide And blaming !. . . . Look this is about FLYING, not rools and blaming, its always post-mortems and YOU shouldnt do this, that, or ANYTHING. I really dislike these buggers, its like being with royalty and their stinky bad breath . . . . Good job I dont use my real name or I'd never get the chance to fly anywhere

[@richardking6066]

The wind aloft can also be stronger than it appears on the ground - it's happened to me on a couple of occasions. Interesting to see you talking directly with the winch driver. I've not seen that happen at our club - it's usually after the fact we let them know if there was a problem with the speed of the winch..

[@PureGlide]

Yes we don’t winch very often and this driver hasn’t driven for quite a long time, so we call out speeds on the way up to help them. It’s not an automatic winch, so has to be driven.

[@Johan-ex5yj]

@@PureGlide What do you mean by “automatic winch”? I can’t find any info on the internet on that. Only automatic cable tensioning… ?

[@PureGlide]

@@Johan-ex5yj yes like the skywinch winches, they automatically drive the power to keep the tension on the rope correct. Our winch it’s a person driving it.

[@Johan-ex5yj]

@@PureGlide Thanks Mate. I was thinking in terms of a fully automatic winch, as in no operator required! In paragliding there is in fact now an electric winch that can be controlled by the pilot with an RF- remote- control (see: eWinch - Miami Paragliding). May be coming to sailplane gliding in the future, would be nice, he?!

[@webbevents]

@@PureGlide Hi, been driving Skylaunch winches at club level and professionaly for the RAF for many years. . The only thing automatic about them is the gearbox. Its still very much up to the winch driver to regulate the speed, and back off at the top. They do have a throttle guide, but its still down to experience.

[@maxmerkel1087]

The link doesn’t break because of too high speed, it breaks because of too heavy pulling the stick. 😉

[@PureGlide]

Yes, I meant the winch was driving too fast at the top, which creates too much pressure on the glider and cable, which breaks the weak link. Without the winch dropping power at the top it's almost impossible to know where the top is, so I can't round over properly. And if I miss time it and lower the nose too early, the speed of the glider increases, which creates more pressure and breaks the weak link...

[@maxmerkel1087]

@@PureGlide Well, if you’re more experienced, the link won’t break and you’ll even recognize the top to come. I often let the winch go too fast when I’m near the top, release the stick a bit and after I release from the winch, I finally pull the stick again. This will gain another 25 to 50 m height.😉

[@stephaniekent8483]

GREAT VIDEO... LOVE THE WINCH!

[@PureGlide]

Thanks!

[@henrikcarlsen1881]

1800 ft on a failed winch start? That lucky b......! Did he pull the release handle after the link broke, I couldn't see?

[@PureGlide]

I should have! We are trained to pull the release after a break or back release.

[@manfredmoller1738]

in germany we call it "Kavalierstart" xd

[@PureGlide]

Ha yes not ideal was it

[@maxmerkel1087]

Ein Kavalierstart, wenn Dir die Sollbruchstelle in mehreren 100 ft reißt? Kavalierstart ist doch, wenn Du vom Start weg mit einem viel zu hohen Anstellwinkel weg gehst, ohne genug Fahrt für einen Seilriss zu haben...

[@HotelPapa100]

At that height the pucker factor is manageable.

[@MuzixMaker]

That mike will put your eye out.

[@PureGlide]

It's rare they stay in place, so I'm very lucky :)

[@TheSoaringChannel]

I've always been sketched out by the initial climb and mid climb breaks. I haven't done a winch launch yet. Ever done an autotow, Tim?

[@PureGlide]

Hi no haven’t done an auto launch yet. Or a hill launch. I have had the winch rope break at various points on the launch including down low, no dramas, nose down, land straight ahead. As long as you don’t point up until the speed has been reached it’s fine.

[@TheSoaringChannel]

@@PureGlide Makes sense!

[@willhibbardii2450]

Thanks Tim, I learned about weak links today. A feature I wasn't aware of on glider winch launchers. How close to the glider is the weak link? What's the procedure to drop the leader cable so not to hit anyone on the ground?

[@PureGlide]

The weak link is about 2m from the release hook, on a piece of cable called the strop. The main cable has a parachute, but the strop will fall if it breaks. It’ll fall somewhere between the winch and the launch point, which is an incredibly dangerous place to be anyway while launching! So it shouldn’t hit anyone.

[@willhibbardii2450]

@@PureGlide Thanks Tim, Now I just learned about the strop. Learning two things on the same day is too much for this missing link! 🤣🤣🤣

[@brushitoff503]

Nice so where's the rest of the video? That was way too short! You going to make a good learning video on this? I hope you do for one. Almost all of my Gliding expierence has been by WInch Launching so I'm keen to see what you do with this Tim, cheers!

[@PureGlide]

Yeah I'll do a whole video on winching sometime soon, just thought this was a cool shot to share

[@brushitoff503]

@@PureGlide bloody oath, awesome

[@csakbencee]

He's still on the task. Wait until he lands.

[@PureGlide]

@@csakbencee Haha exactly :)

[@brushitoff503]

@@csakbencee 🤣🤣🤣

[@chrisj800]

So you still got to 1800' AGL? Thats a good launch. I used to get half of that at Dunstable but could get thermals from the hill there.

[@PureGlide]

Airfield is 200 feet so it was 1600' AGL. However it's easier to go higher when you slingshot of the top at high speed! We run out of weak links if we do that too much though...

[@rafabeton609]

Indeed, you're lucky if you get 1300' AGL in a k21 at Dunstable.. and 1000' in a k23. Most likely around the 800' mark as you said.

[@DB-thats-me]

@@rafabeton609 how long is the cable? I believe the ones at Jury Hill (S. Wairarapa, New Zealand) are now 7000’+ That would give a reliable 2000’+ launch. 😳

[@rafabeton609]

@@DB-thats-me between 2000ft and 2300ft depending on the run

[@linkspanmodels6543]

We usually manage 1200 to 1400 at Stratford on Avon with the K13 - if the wind is in the right direction and strength.

[@Eruthian]

I remember my first winch launch solo. And ofc the cable had to snap at that very flight (at roughly 150m/450 feet). After the landing was just opening the canopy and yelling at the guys coming to push me back "Are you fucking kidding me???" We laughed so hard xD.

[@jamesneely766]

1800 feet?!! Wow! Our poor winch could only get us to 1000 if we were lucky. (3000' strip). Anything over 600 was considered flyable. My best cross country was off a 700 foot tow. My one cable break was at about 300'...a non event, just land.

[@k6fgj]

You should be prepared for a launch failure on every single flight!!

[@PureGlide]

Absolutely!

[@SimonAmazingClarke]

Tgat was a good launch when I used to glide. A cable break was below 400 feet.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah I know, it wasn't too bad :)

[@Macialao]

In Poland we have something called "sheld" at the start . It's basically white painted board on a stick. In case of a line failure (not necessarily on the weak link) or release mechanism failure we use this shield spinning around to inform a pilot that he has several hundred feet of wire still attached to the glider (it is not compulsory anymore due to radio, but visual signal is more reliable than faulty radio). That's why we always make a turn immediately after interrupted/finished winch to have a look at the start if the guys aren't spinning the shield. Of course at low altitude failure no one cares that much, either straight landing or other possibilities are used, regardless if we have cable still attached. That had me thinking, i didn't catch your radio correspondence, were you sure that the rope broke at the weak link and you have successfully release what was left from your glider? All best

[@PureGlide]

Interesting! We do a double release pull at the top of the launch, no matter if it broke or I released myself. But yes otherwise I don't know if something is still there.

[@Macialao]

@@PureGlide Ah another interesting fact from Poland! Mentioned shield was also used to communicate with winch. It was rectangular so winch person recognized if the shield was vertical (tension the rope,) horizontal (glider is rolling) or at the ground (glider is accelerating)

[@LL-sk3do]

Question for you. If you're ever caught in a lightning storm should you dump your water or keep it?

[@PureGlide]

If you get hit by lightning your fibreglass or carbon glider will explode, so don't think it matters too much! I don't think it would increase or decrease your chances of being hit by lightning...

[@ls3laminarflow]

Hi LL, first of all I would say flying near a thunderstorm or in those conditions would be a pilot decision, so the right thing is to stay a safe distance in the first place, and decide that much sooner... But taking your question literally, I would propose to keep the water on board to help you get further away from the storm faster. As you dump it, you are effectively trailing a conductive string of water droplets behind you. That might even help the lighting trigger. Similar thing happened on apollo 12 during launch.

[@LL-sk3do]

@@ls3laminarflow Makes sense, thank you

[@cometjockeydave4041]

We're you able to find some lift from there, or did you have to give up, and relaunch?

[@PureGlide]

4 hour flight, 320km, although I did use my motor to get to the first thermal :O

[@cometjockeydave4041]

@@PureGlide Still, that's impressive to look at for the uninitiated lke me. Please stay safe.

[@geoffmarsh7986]

Love the "high tech" communication device - apologies if the video is 25 years ago.

[@PureGlide]

You mean "the radio"?!

[@geoffmarsh7986]

@@PureGlide Yes. I was surprised that the articulated device was so large and bulky and struck me as being possibly dangerous. I am sure with strict CAA and BGA(?) requirements the equipment in the glider complies with whatever is acceptable, just struck me as perhaps dangerous. I am not a pilot so what do I know!! Friend was an instructor and he has some interesting tales.

[@ianbenning2833]

You are giving air speed to the winch driver. Is that on a VHF airband channel?

[@PureGlide]

Yes just the standard radio that all aircraft have

[@patadamson4005]

I attended a fatal accident following a similar incident. Sad thing is they had ample runway to set it back down but the student trying to pull up overpowered the instructor who was trying to push the nose down. Stalled a wing and well, we all know what happened then.

[@PureGlide]

Very sorry to hear that. We do actually test for student reaction to negative Gs among other things, as some people are sensitive to it.

[@gahazebrouck]

Very sad to read this 😢 I had a link break last year flying solo during training... I saw the airspeed suddenly going up and I immediately thought it was going to happen. You have to be quick in putting the nose down, and immediately checking the airbrakes are closed. In my case they went fully open for a second! Then releasing the cable and wait for the speed to catch up before manoeuvering.

[@patadamson4005]

@@gahazebrouck scary moment. I know the joke is that all landings are forced landings, but most come with a bit of notice. Still, at least the link did its job and you weren’t stuck with a cable dragging you down too

[@gahazebrouck]

​​@@patadamson4005 yes, a bit scary. As you said "every landing is a forced landing", well, you can also pre assume every take off will probably be a short take off and landing... If you observe the airspeed and stay focused (like being already prepared for aborting), it normally will not take you by surprise... Then it is all about following the correct procedure based on the altitude and the wind. If you panic, you have a big problem...

[@19freak98]

This happened to me the first time I stepped in a glider xD

[@PureGlide]

Just part of the fun!

[@ianclare5721]

That would have been termed a pole bender at the gliding club I learned at, and would have suffered the wrath of the CFI and been banned from flying for the rest of the day. He went well beyond the vertical overhead the winch, the only thing that was ever going to happen was for the weak link to break.

[@PureGlide]

Not quite accurate. What actually happened is I bumped the flaps lever early in the flight and it went to flaps one, which meant the glider was going fast especially at the top, thus pulling harder to slow down, and that's what broke the weaklink. Going overhead the winch doesn't normally cause a problem, as it back releases happily.

[@712erik]

odd breaking the weak link at that altitude, I remember doing an instruction flight on a duo discus as a learner and breaking the link at around 100 metres, that was the most butt clenched shortend circuit ever haha

[@PureGlide]

Hi the pressure on the rope/cable/wire is highest at the top of the launch, but yes can definitely break down low too!

[@712erik]

@@PureGlide Yeah that makes alot of sense, I was a bit confused because ive seen so much ropes snap at lower altitudes

[@voornaam3191]

Ja, da's een rot hoogte. Rechtuit landen kun je vergeten (of je hebt een hele lange startbaan). Metéén terug en vooral dichtbij de landingsbaan blijven. Je doet dat haast automatisch, dat is je wel geleerd. Zo'n Duo Discus kan in doodstille lucht best een paar kilometer vliegen, met die 100 meter, zeker als het grondeffect je gaat meehelpen, maar ja, dat is alleen leuk, als je boven een zoutvlakte vliegt.

[@Ritefita]

@@PureGlide not the pressure. imho, you shouldn't mess up the physics with your hobby. Best wishes =)

[@oLiVeR-ut9qi]

How is the cable attached. If you don’t release the cable does it stay on the belly of the plane and pull it down, or snap off

[@PureGlide]

There is a special tow hook device on the glider. It's designed to back release at a certain angle. i.e if you fly over the top of the winch, it will release automatically. There is also a weak link so if anything weird happens, it'll break. Good question! Cheers

[@oLiVeR-ut9qi]

@@PureGlide thanks! 👍

[@timkremers9978]

Looks quite steep in the beginning

[@PureGlide]

Yeah they always are, but only when there is enough speed!

[@chrisehmke1651]

I would not consider this as a cable break, he was about to release anyway. One time I had a break at 120 m and was able to circle a thermal.

[@PureGlide]

True it broke at the top of the climb, but still broke!

[@Brabustobi]

Charlie Sheen in a glider 😱 now I've seen it all😅

[@PureGlide]

Haha thanks I think?!

[@markpedwell1250]

Pole bending

[@PureGlide]

Yip!

[@alke5879]

Last stage, pilot error! This can be seen in the clip!

[@PureGlide]

Probably :)

[@JamesT65]

I am just new to your channel, I have been binging on the previous videos you did and it has me hooked. Would it be possible for you to put telemetry on the videos, it would be interesting to see the altimeter/speed and various info as your flying. The whole thermal thing makes it very interesting and I am sure when your flying ti adds some excitement when you catch it unexpectedly. Thanks for the great info/content and above all sharing your knowledge on the subject.

[@PureGlide]

Hey thanks for watching, it's tricky to add telemetry, I tried it once, the software is buggy and crashed a lot. You can however if you watch in 4k see the altimeter and airspeed in my glider if that helps! Cheers

[@JamesT65]

@@PureGlide thanks for the reply. Its a shame its not stable would have been a great addition. I find your chasing clouds fascinating.

[@rogerclyde2720]

We’re you able to recover and have a good flight?

[@PureGlide]

I sure was, 4 hours, 320km www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8271719

[@rogerclyde2720]

Wow! Nice !

[@aziznormuminov745]

Hello sir! I am belonged to Uzbekistan and can I stay a member of your club?

[@PureGlide]

Sure!

[@aziznormuminov745]

@@PureGlide that 's awesome! Give me your email then to contact

[@benwilliams5236]

Aww. I thought you were going to demonstrate a cable break at 300' and 500'. Nose forward, air breaks out, land straight ahead for low cable break or modified circuit for mid climb breaks. Is that the way you do it?

[@PureGlide]

Yip exactly right! Sorry no just a boring break at the top of the launch. Had to make it sound exciting though :) I'll do a proper video about how winching works sometime soon, so that'll include one!

[@benwilliams5236]

@@PureGlide Cool... and educational.

[@TheRogey1]

Airbrakes are a No No ...get nose down and speed on,especially low to the ground. Then decide what you are going to do(which you would of gone through Eventualities,before you launched). Airbrakes out would reduce your speed considerably then stall/spin.

[@PureGlide]

​@@TheRogey1 I suspect you might think airbrakes are something different from what glider pilots call airbrakes? Airbrakes (aka spoilers) on a glider control your vertical descent rate only, despite the name they have almost no effect on airspeed. When landing we keep the airspeed as constant as possible, diving for the ground will increase your speed which is the last thing you want when about to touch down. The goal is to wash off as much energy, and be close as possible to stall on touching down. That way you won't hit the fence at the other end of the field :)

[@TheRogey1]

@@PureGlide Had cable break at 300ft on my first solo in a K13,first thing get the nose down get speed on 55-60 knots depending on what you are going to do (eventualities) Land ahead if possible(No turns) or ‘S’shaped turn land best place possible,my instructors never said use airbrakes until you have speed and are established on finals to land. Many accidents on winch at the ‘terrible’ height 300ft-400ft approx,not quick enough at getting the nose down,you don’t want any drag at that point(airbrakes),more chance of a stall and spin. CBSIFTCBE

[@georgypadalko7002]

What's the length of the link you have at that field? It looked like you managed to get quite high before it broke.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah 1600 feet AGL. Field length is quite long, can't find the number right now, 1.6Km or something from memory?

[@lautoka63]

@@PureGlide About that. Bear in mind we only get 1,100' at AGC and mostly get away from that height.

[@unbekannt__7382]

Super Video

[@PureGlide]

Thanks!

[@samuel-_-2031]

Man i wanna do this too looks so cool

[@PureGlide]

It is awesome! Just find a local club near you that does winching, hopefully there is one near by?

[@samuel-_-2031]

@@PureGlide i dont know exactly i was there once but the people didnt seem very friendly at all

[@PureGlide]

@@samuel-_-2031 Ah that's not good to hear, it's a common problem around the world where club members just aren't friendly to new comers. And is a bit of luck who happens to be at a club on the day. If you ever come to New Zealand we'll treat you nicely here!

[@Iboxx]

I've seen so many videos of cable failures. We can design advanced gliders but we can't make cables strong enough to sustain a winch?

[@PureGlide]

It's designed to break at a certain load (thus the 'weak link'). It's far more convenient to break an easily replaceable weak link rather than the rope or cable. And yes, they are very strong, so the glider could be damaged before the cable, thus the need for the weaklink also.

[@Iboxx]

@@PureGlide I guess that's the best available solution and you have to live with it then. As an outsider it sounds like the weak link breaks too easily too often but I'm probably wrong since I clearly don't know enough about the subject. Thanks for the info and for posting

[@chrisehmke1651]

Apart from the weak link, the cable itself is a wearing part. Sooner or later it will break. We have as much as 20 repair joints on the cable before we even think about to replace it.

[@Iboxx]

@@chrisehmke1651 What's the cable made of?

[@chrisehmke1651]

@@Iboxx It's a 6 mm steel cable. We could not afford a dyneema until now.

[@AlexAlex-im2lp]

before release you need to lighten the wing load - however you are not a champion but a walker of the skies hihihi

[@PureGlide]

You sure do! Cheeres

[@BK-uy9nj]

Why is the mic like in your face? How is that not a safety hazard?

[@PureGlide]

So I can make radio calls while I’m flying. Why is it a hazard? It doesn’t move much and won’t damage anything even if it did.

[@coopersrace7277]

Which gliding club is that?

[@PureGlide]

Piako Gliding Club, Matamata, New Zealand

[@SoloRenegade]

what happens to the winch line after it releases? drop straight down? Fall in some direction?

[@PureGlide]

Good question! The bit that broke (the weak link) is attached to a small piece of cable, it falls to the ground, they found it on the runway. The rest of the cable was wound in like normal.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@PureGlide Is the main cable, after release, wound in at such a speed the end never hits the ground, in normal operations?

[@PureGlide]

@@SoloRenegade I have some footage of this coming soon! Basically most of it gets wound it, and just the end hits the ground.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@PureGlide That would be neat to see. I hope to get my glider rating in the near future. Trick is finding a place near me offering training.

[@pompeymonkey3271]

@@SoloRenegade There is a small parachute on the cable, just before the weak-link. It provides enough back-tension for the cable to be wound in propertly after a release or weak-link break. If the cable snaps before the parachute, then it just rains 1/4" steel cable. Believe me, I've seen some near disasters at the winch end where people don't stand under cover during a launch....

[@user-lg6wr2dw7q]

How to become a Glider towing pilot

[@wackaircaftmechanic2312]

Hey at least it wasn't 100!

[@PureGlide]

True! No drama if it is, Nose down, land straight ahead

[@wackaircaftmechanic2312]

@@PureGlide Just how we all remember. fly well!

[@StarZiggy3]

So what did he do

[@PureGlide]

That was me, I went off and had a 3 hour flight. They had to find the broken bit of rope on the ground, but they found it no problems!

[@StarZiggy3]

@@PureGlide I've just seen your reply. WOW, kudos. Having no experience on gliding, I had no idea one could save the day like that from such a low altitude

[@buzzinbritain8222]

Poor piloting or winch driving for a weak link to break at that height I'm afraid....not a good example. What happend to the strop where did that end up? Winch driver should ease off the power near the top of a launch and glider pilot should ease over the nose to reduce the strain on the cable before relese....

[@PureGlide]

Yeah exactly right, just needed to ease off the power at the top. That's why I posted it, because it wasn't perfect. The strop landed on the runway, no dramas.

[@buzzinbritain8222]

@@PureGlide Yep, but not really explained anywhere in the video - might have been better to incude something about that, as there are a lot of people watching your videos might think this is a 'normal' procedure, and like me don't read the written intro to your videos. At least it wasn't a broken cable drifting across power wires at 12.00 on Christmas day :-) Do you have a strain gauge or anything like that on the winch? I think the Skylaunch winches have some kind of device that regulates the winch launch for ham-fisted drivers. Ever had a winch run out a fuel during a launch? Had that one with my old man driving the winch and me in the glider.........

[@xptical]

Not that you need the views, but you should re-edit this down to 59 seconds and make it a #shorts.

[@PureGlide]

Oh I'll look into it! I do need the views :)

[@benjaminjansen4448]

@@PureGlide congrats with your 69 likes

[@PureGlide]

Haha thanks!

[@user-dx2jj1fo6g]

I wanna fly too (((

[@PureGlide]

I want you to fly too!

[@bazzer621]

Try it when the tow fails at 700ft! It's brown trousers time 💩

[@PureGlide]

I've done a few lately at various heights - no dramas thanks to a long field, just land straight ahead!

[@maxmerkel1087]

What’s your problem with 700ft??? At my home base we train our students to deal with breaking links between 350 and 650 ft. Some examiners do it during the exam extremely low. If you’re getting brown trousers in 700 ft, you’re not a good trained pilot... I had only 350 ft left at the end of the downwind and the whole landing area was full of gliders. And nobody felt urged to tow the gliders away. This was a moment to become a little bit less calm. Really bad beginners mistakes are to communicate too less and because of that reduced possible landing options because the pilot in front of you has the better glide ratio and therefore expands downwind base and final too much for your glider. And when he then takes the area that you planned, then it’s really time for high pulse and blood pressure. I had thermals with 5 meters per second and at 2500 ft I had to leave, because of the following airspace C. The sink rate then was more than 10 m / sec.! The distance to the airfield was under normal conditions more than enough to glide back an do at least two or three full traffic circuits. At that day I had to had directly to the winch and land with tailwind against the towing direction, because I had only 250 ft left. This is a moment you’ll be quite disturbed after landing...

[@bazzer621]

@@maxmerkel1087 Speak for yourself regarding training! When you have no ahead landing possibility and a strong head wind no f#####g amount of training will stop a brown trousers moment no matter how short it is!

[@maxmerkel1087]

@@bazzer621 What about the distance between start and winch??? If the link breaks at 300 ft or less, the only possibility is nose down and get to the ground before reaching the winch. At my airfield there is a fence and then a forrest some meters behind the airfield. Make a guess, what happens if you‘re being aero-towed by a Motorglider and the pilot talks to you via radio, just 100ft above the trees, that his engine‘s gonna die, so he‘s releasing you from the aero-tow. THIS IS SCARING. I was glad to have an instructor in my glyder. And you‘re obviously not prepared and obviously unsufficiently trained, if you‘re searching for a landing strip while having an aborted tow. You ALLWAYS have to be prepared, that the tow can suddenly be aborted at any time of the towing and at any height. So you have to have a plan where to land, if the link breaks or the winch is dying or because some idiots are crossing the towing wirh their Cessna. And let me tell you that: Brown trousers is a lack of human ressources and situational aeareness. I had some really bad situations while learning to fly, but the only one, I wasn‘t able to deal with, was when my instructor interrupted my learned approach 3 times. This confused me extremely, but I learned so much from that, that I didn‘t fear of any upcoming situations any more. Respect? Of course, but no fear. Nower days I own SPL, TMG, UL, PPL A with NVFR licenses. Just to let you imagine my background. And a strong headwind is perfect for a short track landing because of lowgroundspeed. If you‘re not able to deal with the conditions, don‘t fly allone.

[@bazzer621]

@@maxmerkel1087 Boy do you sound like the clubs know all! Bet you are a wiz at party's unless of course you don't get invited to any 🤣🤣🤣. Don't have the audacity to rubbish my training! I have been flying gliders and power since 1969 and have never had a flying accident! Had many launch failures in that time and have always managed to land without incident! Goodbye

[@DumbledoreMcCracken]

Rocketship

[@PureGlide]

It’s pretty awesome!

[@peterzingler6221]

If that happens in the wrong moment.. You're basicly a dead man?

[@PureGlide]

No, we are trained to handle a cable break at any altitude. I only let the glider start pointing up if I have enough speed to be able to push the stick forward and recover safely. I've done it from multiple different altitudes including low level, so know exactly what it's like.

[@peterzingler6221]

@@PureGlide that's good. I kinda expected there's a good chance of a stall but as you said it makes sense.

[@voornaam3191]

That is not exactly "going wrong". Going wrong means a wreck and a funeral, doing it wrong is horribly dangerous. You just broke a safety link at a huge altitude. Yeah, you paid for 3,000 feet altitude, I know.

[@PureGlide]

It may have been a slight exaggeration :)

[@amp2amp800]

thats not a break, its a fail to release. ;-)

[@PureGlide]

It definitely broke the weak link! And yes maybe I should have released, but the winch hadn't slowed enough to actually start nosing over to release like normal.

[@kebo57]

Would think glider pilots would be wearing helmets? Guess they don't so much about their noggins!

[@PureGlide]

If you have an accident that requires a helmet, you probably have bigger problems! I haven’t heard of any accidents where a helmet might have saved the day. The same could be said for going in the car. Sure a helmet might help in specific crashes, but it’s unlikely and not worth the inconvenience.

[@gianluca6058]

Nothing personal but people with that hat look low at testosterone

[@PureGlide]

Haha it's the perfect hat for flying. It needs a short rim, otherwise it blocks the view...

[@dankodnevic3222]

Waiting too long to release...

[@PureGlide]

Yes maybe I should have released, but the winch hadn't slowed enough to actually start nosing over to release like normal.

[@dankodnevic3222]

@@PureGlide 38 years ago, when I was young kadet on flying school, we had theory lessons and teacher was very good in math. He demonstrated to us, there is nothing worth risk, behind 70 degree winch rope. angle Even 60-65 was fine. You are lucky today with good safety links. We had winch without functional knife/guillotine. Imagine that horror...

[@PureGlide]

@@dankodnevic3222 I shudder to think what could go wrong without a guillotine! Yes I don't think we're doing much more of an angle than 45 degrees or so. I just measured it from a video I had from Omarama looking out the wing, it is about 50 degrees. I suspect the wide angle camera on this video makes it look worse :)

[@chrisgill12345]

Nice clickbait. You owe me 2 minutes of my life back. Actually, make it 3 minutes for forcing me to write this comment

[@PureGlide]

lol