Safe Winch Launching

The resources on this page have been put together as part of the BGA Safe Winch Launching Initiative. We hope that all glider pilots will make use of this to increase their knowledge of winch launching - and of what can go wrong. By doing this, everybody can contribute to our efforts to maintain the improvement in safety seen in the first three years of this BGA initiative.

The information presented here builds upon the messages from the earlier stages of the initiative. Accidents resulting from stalls and spins following power loss during the launch (cable break, winch failure etc) have declined dramatically - but we all need to remember the earlier advice:

• after take-off, maintain a shallow climb until adequate speed is seen with continued acceleration. Then allow the glider to rotate at a controlled pace. If power is lost near the ground, immediately lower the nose to the appropriate recovery attitude.
• after a power loss in mid-launch, adopt the recovery attitude, wait until the glider regains a safe approach speed, and land ahead if it is safe to do so.

Cartwheeling accidents - predominantly to experienced pilots - are still happening as a result of not releasing the cable if the wing drops during the ground run.

• If you can't keep the wings level before take-off, release before the wing touches the ground.

	Safe Winch Launching A BGA booklet containing previously published winch launching advice, together with material drawn from the BGA Instructors' Manual. This is, in effect, a mini-manual to aid safe winch launching.	Video Clips. Thankfully, most of us never experience a serious winch launch accident. These simulated videos show you just what can go wrong - and how quickly it all happens.	Quiz An interactive quiz to test your knowledge of safe winch launching. Contains answers and detailed explanations. If you are not sure about anything - ask an instructor.

Any comments or feedback about the safe winch launch initiative would be welcomed. Please Email the BGA Safety Initiative team via this link.