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This is Gary Warner's hand launch winch. The motor is a "TorqMaster 180" (Hobico) electric starter motor for gas planes. The spool holds about 500' of line and 10' of latex tubing. It's great on calm as well as windy days. The static pull with the motor stalled is 10 pounds. It's not been tried with a 2 meter, but it's likely to do well with a Gentle Lady and other such models.
The whole motor (unmodified) is mounted to the board with screws. The drum is PVC pipe fitted into the existing starter cone holder. The entire cost of the winch is less that $50 without the battery. The static current stalled is 45 amps with 25 amps the average. Any thoughts about a retriever?
Several versions of the spool were tried before coming up with this arrangement. It's amazing how much large forces are at work on the drum when all that string is spooled up at 10 pounds of pull. Even the end of the drum departed while being used prompting another modification.
The turnaround is made of hard wood, plywood sides and a landing gear wheel hub. It is mounted to a piece of "All-Thread" using an eye hook for free movement.
The foot petal is bent aluminum with a pivot point made from screws and loose washers. The end under the motor is form bent to push on the normal switch meaning the winch motor is not modified in any way.
The foot fits well on the metal plate and feels very much like the clubs full size winch. This winch does need to be "petaled" in the wind or with a weak plane. Like a regular club winches, this one can hurt a plane is used too aggressively.
