Paraglider winch »selfsky«
Imagine you are driving to a meadow, you have a dirt road about a kilometer long at your disposal. You park your car, unroll the rope and… prepare for takeoff. You remotely start the winch, you have information about its status (the motor is running, the force is set), you hook yourself up and… you tow yourself. Once you reach the right height – or sometimes earlier, but before the winch point – you unhook the rope, roll it up remotely, and look for a lift yourself. Didn’t catch anything? No lift because something “passed”? Nothing is lost - after all, you’re not waiting in line, there aren’t many people waiting, and time and “conditions” are running out, so you unwind the rope again, hook up and take off, without waiting in line, without wasting time. This solution is ideal for independent pilots with experience in free flying and towing.
Independent launch
The winch allows for INDEPENDENT launch without the need to involve third parties, i.e., no winch operator or driver is needed—all you need are your skills and willingness.
The idea behind the design of the device was also to create a solution that would allow for independent towing – mainly in paragliding. Why? The answer to this question is simple: many times the weather was good for flying, but the nearest winch was many kilometers away, hours away, and there was a queue of people waiting to use it. And we ourselves did not have anyone within reach who could and would be able to tow us.
Our solutions
Our solution focuses on ease of use, trouble-free operation, and quick and easy servicing – spare parts are available practically immediately, and replacing them is not a major problem and does not require the use of specialized tools.
We offer two models – “light” and standard. The main difference between them is their size and maximum power. While the standard version is capable of a lot – it can even tow in tandem – the “light” version is ideal for packing into a small car for a pilot of average size.
The engine used in our solution is a four-stroke engine, so it does not require the preparation of a mixture, which facilitates refueling. The tank, although small, allows for 3-4 tows, and refueling from a canister is not a problem. This solution is designed for safe storage and transport – a small amount of fuel can be easily pumped out if longer storage is expected (leaving fuel in the tank is not recommended for safety reasons).
Basic Parameters:
- Remote control with a range of over 1 km, allowing for safe towing on virtually any meadow or dirt road.
- The remote control provides information about the winch status.
- Towing force adjustment.
- Maximum force fuse.
- Automatic rope winding to a set length.
Other possibilities?
There are other solutions on the market, but mainly as old videos on YouTube, or the proposed solutions are too expensive, problematic, or… unavailable. A number of projects that can be seen in the videos are eye-catching, but they are one-off projects, made independently and solely for the personal needs of their designers. Would you like to have something like this? Most of the projects mentioned are unavailable, and not everyone has the ability or desire to build, test, write software, make corrections, and perform other tasks necessary during the prototyping stages. Building it yourself is possible, but ask yourself this question: do you want to play at being a designer, or do you want to fly? Think about how many times you will miss out on a “warun” because the design failed? How much wasted rope, equipment, parts, tools, or misguided solutions. All of this is time, time that you could have spent in the air.