Originally Posted by
Crash one
I don't know why I'm bothering to reply to this, but I was always taught, release before the thing back releases because otherwise you have passed the overhead the winch and if there is little or no wind you will drop a 1200ft pile of high tensile spaghetti all over the winch.
I think there are three basic methods to this:
- Release at pilots discretion
- Release at the winch drivers discretion: The winch driver will release the tension on the cable. This can be felt in the airplane, so you release the cable
- Release by flying over the winch and let the safety mechanism do its work
Which method is used depends on the local culture. But it also depends on the prevailing wind direction and strength. With a strong headwind the chance that the cable drops on, or behind the winch is virtually nonexistent, so the winch driver can continue the launch until the aircraft releases itself through the safety mechanism - which is almost dead overhead the winch. OTOH with light winds, winds 90 degrees cross to the launch direction, or even with a slight tailwind (yes it happens), the winch driver needs to signal the pilot to release a lot earlier in order to avoid the 1200' spaghetti.