LEM

Is there any information on the board about building a launch wench?

Would like to build one, and don't want to spend a fortune -

Have a lathe, so the drum and fittings aren't a problem.
I made a drum for a friend and I believe he mounted in on a Motor Cycle Starter.

I think a glow engine starter with a good car battery, might do it. Seems to have plenty of power, but needs a bigger drum, for more speed.

Thanks

LEM

jerry dotson

LEM I built a winch and a retriever from 350 Chevy starters. My memory fails me but I think I turned the shaft on the pinion end just a tiny bit so a ball bearing would fit. I made a new end and put the ball bearing in it. It was made from 1/2" thick aluminum. Made the drum from 1 1/2 " aluminum pipe and 1/4" aluminum plate. The retriever is belt drive so I put a pulley on that motor. The two starters are identical. The frame is made from unistrut welded together. I used Ford solenoids. There are 4 solenoids.....two on each motor in series so that if one sticks the other one can still shut it off.
The drum looks small but trust me it is plenty fast. I have to pump the pedal on launch to keep from pulling the wings off my floaters. I have a Sig 100" and a Bird of Time. I pulled the wings off a Spirit(broke right in the center). It was my fault it kept popping off and I just nailed the pedal the next time and that was a mistake.

Jerry

perttime

Wench:

Noun
wench (plural: wenches)
1. a young woman, especially a servant
2. a promiscuous woman

Intransitive verb
to wench (third-person singular simple present: wenches, present participle: wenching, simple past: wenched, past participle: wenched)

- to frequent prostitutes

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wench

bkdavy

My Feedback: (1)

Darn. I opened this thread hoping for something completely different! I thought maybe a stepford wife to hand launch planes...



Brad

LEM

Jerry,

Thanks for the reply.
There is a home made launch and retrieval system, somewhere in this area, if I can locate it.

The light just came on. I have converted over a dozen weed eater engines for models.
Many had centrifical clutches, that were thrown away. Think I might have a couple with clutches in the shed. Might be worth a try.

I would like to use something smaller than a car starter, to keep the weight down, And have heard the horror stories about folding the wings with a heavy foot on the switch.

Also need to find a fisherman and check out the small wenches they put on boat trailers.
Much smaller than a car starter - don’t know if they are geared.

Getting back to the gliders. Most of mine are electric, and much more fun with the brush-less motors and lipo batteries. Have several planes set up for tow, but finding another pilot is always a problem.

Last weekend we put up a 55 inch hand launch glider, by towing it with a $20 foam electric. Everyone said it wouldn’t work, but we proved them wrong. Looked like a mouse pulling an elephant - fun - fun. The only casualty was a broken prop from that hidden rock in the weeds -

LEM

soarhead-RCU

LEM:
Back in the old days we used a 6v Ford starter motor that had a long shaft (maybe 5 inchs) and hit them with 12v. Maybe they are not available now but they were real good because you could mount the drum easily right on the output shaft of the motor. Might be worth a check on the internet or junk yards. Also used Ford solenoids. Have seen the Chevy starters used with jack shafts also. Tinker away, alot of things will work. Also outboard motor starters have been used.
Good Luck
Bob

jerry dotson

LEM
Go to a lawn mower graveyard. I have a 22 hp lawn mower that has a nice little starter not much bigger than a glow engine starter. I believe it would have plenty of power but you would have to really gear it down to pull a retriever. Just my thoughts. My rig is heavy but I fly here at home and I just take the little Kubota and carry it out and back again. I am trying to get my first electric going right now. Hope to fly it in 3 or 4 days. I went cheap bought a Tower Hobbies Vista EP. I am not expecting a whole lot of performance. I just wanted to see if I like the electric. I am thinking about my Bird of Time......putting on a brushless and Li-Po battery. That winch is a lot of trouble to fly just by myself. I use a H-Start most of the time. I really like the winch when lift is hard to find though.

Jerry

LEM

Jerry,
I contacted the buddy that I built the drum for. Nice set-up and simple. No recovery system. Don’t think I want to go there. No idea how the recovery works, so will keep it simple.
His is simple - just a small starter motor with a drum - solenoid - micro switch - foot petal. Doubt if it weighs 20 pounds without a battery. He said most of the small cars use about the same size starter motor - so any junk yard will get me started.

About the Bird Of Time. I made a power pod for mine - mounts on top of the wing.
Lipo Battery and brush-less motor. Works fine, but doesn’t so much for the looks of the plane. Can’t bring myself to hacking the front of the fuse to put the motor where it belongs. Will fly it with the pod, but want the wench to fly without.

If you do email, can send pictures of the pod - and /or - the buddy’s wench.
Can also send a couple of links that will help you select the right combination
For the Brush-less set-ups. Beware of the cheap lipo battery packs! It hurts to throw that bargain into the garbage can -

LEM

jerry dotson

Thanks Lem I sent you a message
Jerry

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Don't want one, don't need one can't use the one I already have!

jetmaven

Click on " search " in the header . Enter the words "made winch" ( NOT wench )
look at the first thread that shows up .

rctinman

My Feedback: (40)

Mountain Models sells a nice set of plans for a "Sailplane Sport Winch", well worth the money. Here's a link. http://www.mountainmodels.com/index....f37b18d8a9b033

Steve

BMatthews

You may want to check the last post date before you reply to these things. You just dragged an 8 year old thread out of the archives. Especially when you want to post a comment that is rather pointless.

I'm leaving this up thanks to rctinman's helpful updated source for a winch. It may help someone out.