Congratulations Cynic

A simple hand toss off a hill side can be so enjoyable. The reason the aircraft seemed to stabilize and float much further than you thought is that the glider started to feel the benefits of 'ground effect' as it neared the ground. Any aircraft (this includes helicopters also) when it gets within about half wingspan of the ground there is a subtle change in the airflow below the wing where the downward flow under the wing is influenced by ground contact and this greatly increases the efficiency of the wings which results with a glider in a much better glide angle or in a power plane flown very low in extended range.

There is a famous incident that occured in 1954 I believe with a Pan AM Boeing 377 Stratocruiser with a full load of passengers from Hawaii to San Francisco. During that period these airplanes had a history of failing hollow steel blade propellors and this occured at the point of no return (half way) and the prop took with it most of the engine nose case and a good part of the cowling. To maintain altitude at a slower speed of course was no problem but now because of the added drag and higher power settings on the other three there was insufficient fuel to make land in either direction. The Captain an avid sailplane pilot and aware of the effect droped down to within thirty feet of the surface and because of his quick thinking the flight half way across the Pacific was safely completed at twenty to thirty feet altitude!

You will love the Hi start. Best for someone who has done some
launchs demonstrate one for you. I have done auto tow and winch with full scale and RC hi start and winch and there is one thing to keep in mind that not many RC folks understand about these launchs. Now normally you control airspeed with pitch (elevator) and that is true, pitch up and you slow down pitch down and speed increases. But when you use any of the above launchs say a hi-start or an auto tow for example the reverse becomes true if you raise the nose your speed will increase and vice versa. As backwards as this sounds its a fact, here is what happens: under tow (anykind) the tow line is pulling you at a given speed and thats it. Now if you raise the nose sharply you dramatically increase the angle you are ascending and while the towline is pulling you at a fixed speed you are now covering a greater distance and you airspeed increases. Lower the nose to a shallow angle and the gliders airspeed slows.

The whole point of describing this is with a winch or even a hi-start if the climb angle is too great it is possible for the glider to reach a speed where the wings are pulled right off. Sooooo for your first Hi-start launch don,t stretch the rubber to maximum and keep the nose down to a relatively flat climb. Do not worry about getting altitude on the first few, that will come later. You will get plenty to be able to make one circuit.

Sorry about motor mouthing but thought you may enjoy it.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

John