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topic: stationary winch (1 article)

Constant tension electric winch

Tue, Nov 2 2021, 11:42:49 pm MDT

The Vortex SmartWinch

electric|Instinct Windsports|Mark Dowsett|Nick Jones|Ryan Wood|safety|scooter tow|stationary winch|tandem|tow|Vortex SmartWinch

https://instinct.pro/collections/vortex

We are ready to announce this exciting project we have been working on all this season - we are manufacturing the first commercially-available all-electric hang gliding stationary winch!

We feel it could be quite revolutionary in the industry. The power is there to even tow tandem hang gliders. The intelligence is there to automate the winch operator's job to make it easy for new winch operators to increase your flying communities number of flights.

AND, the foundation is there for us to implement remote-control winch operating - imagine being able to tow yourself up where you want, when you want… all with no need for crew to assist you!

The key feature is the torque-regulated abilities… you just dial in the desired max tow tension and the winch moderates the speed the drum turns to automatically adjust to give the pilot a constant tow pressure, regardless of hitting a wind gust, thermals or sink while on tow.

It is also incredibly portable! There are three components - the motor/drum, the controller box and the battery. All are light enough that they can be taken in and out of an SUV trunk and mounted on your trailer hitch as desired. No storing an entire trailer somewhere - take your winch home and go out to fly where the conditions are prime - rather than relying on a dedicated club site.

We will be taking pre-orders right away with hopes of spring 2022 delivery. We have flight tested the prototype to our satisfaction but are making some alterations for the final configuration. Prices aren't finalized yet but are working on some accurate ball-park figures. As we add features and improve some components, the prices will only go up from what we have listed.

https://instinct.pro/collections/vortex/products/the-vortex-smartwinch

The Vortex is a tension-controlled winch. This is opposed to a speed-controlled (or throttle-controlled) winch.

A speed-controlled winch puts a great amount of responsibility on the winch operator. If they only have speed control, they have some work to do to manage the tension on the tow line throughout the tow.

Some hydraulic winches are smoother but hydro-static winches still require the winch operator to visibly monitor a pressure gauge and adjust their hydraulic flow to attain and maintain a desired tow tension. And the tension can and will change throughout the tow due to glider speed changes, lift/sink, wind gusts and thermals. With a tension-controlled winch, the intelligence of the winch takes care of all that… resulting in a much smoother tow and way more efficient with increased safety.

Scooter winches are notorious for rough tows. All you have is a gas throttle to adjust and most scooter-winches don't have a pressure gauge to monitor. This requires an even more skilled winch operator and often a very rough ride. For this reason, scooter winches are usually only used in low, smooth winds for rather low-tension training tows.

There are also winches based on the LSD (Limited Slip Differential) transmission of a car. These are strictly gas throttle controlled as well and have the same problems as a scooter. They do have the added feature of setting a max tension that the transmission will slip if that max tension is attained to limit the tow from going over the max tension. This adjustment is very hard to set and calibrate as you have to test manually with a gauge and is often set way too high.

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