During a brief period of unemployment from a proper job, I became a PROFESSIONAL WINCH DRIVER at a renowned gliding club on top of a Cotswold. Not too far from Stroud.
I became pretty good at launching all types of gliders, reading the curve in the cable.
To be a good winch driver, you need to take responsibility for the integrity of the cables, and to conduct a thorough DI at the start of the day, replacing splices as necessary. If conditions were good, you needed a thick skin to cope with the members demands to get on with it....
This is what happens when the members are too precious to drive their own winch.