Lepo
The term Lepo , even Leppo , cable car or Pitty , actually return vehicle , referred to in the flier language a vehicle , the pull-out of the start winch cable is intended to winch launching sites. The tow ropes are attached to a special device on the Lepo and pulled back by the winch to the starting point.
Word origin
According to the flight instructor Alexander Willberg , the term Lepo has its origin at the Wasserkuppe airfield , where an old Opel used to be used as a retrieval vehicle: read backwards from Opel Lepo . Occasionally the similar thesis is put forward that Lepo comes from Leporello, which acts as an anagram of oller Opel (old Opel). Whether Lepo a short form of the original Leporello or Leporello a playful extension of the original Lepo, can not feel any final conclusions.
construction
When pulling out several ropes, a sufficient distance (in Germany at least three meters) between the ropes must be ensured so that the ropes cannot lie on top of each other and become entangled. That is why the rope suspensions are mostly located at the end of booms that are mounted on the roof or rear of the Lepos or on a trailer. The jibs can be folded in so that you don't have to drive with the jibs that protrude far on the way back from the starting point to the winch.
Vehicles used
As a rule, Lepos are diesel vehicles, as they commute between the winch and take-off point all day long, which can mean a considerable total distance depending on the number of starts and the length of the take-off route.
Cars or tractors are usually used as the basis for the construction of Lepos. When towing paragliders and hang-gliders by winch , an all-terrain motorcycle or quad is used as a Lepo in some places, since the tow ropes are thinner and therefore easier to pull out.
Since there is a risk of sudden changes in speed that the rope will become knotted due to the inertia of the rope drums, this should be done as gently and evenly as possible. In the case of tractors with sufficient torque , undesired changes in the cable speed or acceleration can be avoided by dispensing with manual gearshifts and using only a single gear over the entire distance between the winch and the starting point.
There are vehicle manufacturers who make their vehicles available to the glider clubs. Most of these are exhibition or test vehicles that are no longer allowed to take part in public road traffic. It also happens that clubs, for example, own a new upper middle class vehicle called a Lepo. Alternatively, vehicles are used that are no longer roadworthy for other reasons or whose use no longer appears economical to the operator: A tractor that has been discarded by a farmer because of its comparatively low performance can still provide valuable service as a Lepo on a glider airfield.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c German Aero Club e. V. - Gliding Commission: Take-off winch driver regulations , status: January 2017, Section 2.7. Laying out starter winch ropes Starter winch driver regulations. (PDF) Federal Sailing Commission, January 2017, accessed on October 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Alexander Willberg: Gliding for Beginners - Theory and Practice . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-613-01682-6 , p. 12 .