The glider launch system used at our field is a Senior Telemaster with a special release mechansim. Gliders ride piggyback on the Telemaster to altitude. The launch system design is fairly simply and highly reliable. It is simply a 6" wide saddle that rubber-band's over the root of the wing and covers the entire chord (LE to TE). The bottom of this saddle conforms to the airfoil of the wing, while the top is flat, and parallel to the underside of the wing (flat bottomed wing on my Telemaster).

Securely screwed into the center of this saddle, right over the spar, is a single eye-hook, with the eye rotated so that is is inline with the spar (the hole is then inline with the fuse).

There are no servos on this saddle. Instead, there is a mating hole in the bottom of the glider fuse (at CG). Inside of this hole is a servo-retractable steel rod. When the glider is mounted on the plane, the rod is extended through the eye-hook. To launch, the rod is retracted, and the glider flies off.

There are two advantages to this system versus using a servo-actuated platform.

1. The glider will never come off the plane unless it is turned on and the radio is properly recieving. So no more glider fly-aways.
2. There is no modification to the tow plane. The whole system can be attached or removed in 2 minutes.

   The next several slide will show you how the system works. Please contact me if you have any questions.

   David Brown