New Winch! Death of Barbie and so much more...

The new winch arrived from Lithuania Monday and we wasted no time getting it going. First task was a day of testing. Before we start towing students and the rest of the crew we needed to get comfortable with the controls and setup of this very different winch. Mariyan and I took turns towing each other up, experimenting with the settings with each tow to find the right balance of tension and speed. We spent the entire morning in search of the ideal technique. This thing is awesome and a welcome addition to our arsenal of free flying gear.
Curt with a “C” joined us after lunch. He also made several flights from the new winch. Mid afternoon we took a break to try out Curt’s “winch”. He’s had it for a couple weeks now and during that time the tiny winch has earned the name “Barbie Winch” as in it’s so small that it probably shouldn’t be used for full size humans. The tiny winch would look right at home on the back of a kids electric Power Wheels Barbie Jeep.
We set up Curt’s toy winch on his vehicle then went over all foreseeable scenarios to ensure we were taking the necessary safety precautions before attempting to tow him with it. Confident that Curt would be safe we hooked him up and gave it a go. I was driving his Honda with him attached to the 500# test fishing line. I started to pull away with the drag set as desired. Curt brought the wing up and began running with the line assisting him. As predicted the winch self destructed just a few seconds into the tow. Curt never even left the ground.
The PG crew gathered at Bender park again this past week. Forecasts indicated that the lakeside ridge could be soared potentially. Jeff, Curt and I were the first on the scene and as such were rewarded with good soaring. Curt and I had nice long flights before the conditions died down and we could no longer stay aloft. Unfortunately that’s when everyone else showed up. David, Adam, Ken, Greg and Mariyan all missed the best part of the day. Most of them
spent the rest of the afternoon kiting and making short sled runs down the bluff to the lakeshore. Still fun but...
TJ and Dave made more flights at the airport. TJ has over 20 under his belt now and Dave isn’t that far behind. Soon these two will be out on there own.
Tony and Gareth continue there training. Both are ready for a day at the sledding hill. Just waiting on that north wind. Looks like it should be here the end of the week.
We had another impromptu fly-in Friday evening with the usual people and several pilots I’ve not seen yet this year. Chuck brought up his trike and showed everyone how a trike launch is supposed to be done. Kevin stopped by, even Ken made the trip over from Waukesha to play.