Is the new Chrysalis 2M wing strong enough for electric winch launching (e.g. stronger than a Gentle Lady)or am I better off using a High start?

From : Don Stackhouse

As far as "stronger than a Gentle Lady", I just cranked through the numbers, and the Chrysalis 2-meter main spar alone is more than FIVE TIMES as strong as a Gentle Lady's main spar. In addition, the wing planform of the Chrysalis tends to cause increases in washout under high towline tensions, which helps to limit the bending loads on the wings. Yes, it is much stronger that a G.L., but it is still a wood ship.

It can be winched, but it's not designed for "pedal to the metal" launches. We've winched them during testing, and we've never broken one from a winch launch, but of course there's always a first time! Use a little judgement and discretion, especially when it's windy, and you'll do fine. Because of the low weight, it kites up with very little line tension, which means you don't need to wind up as much line during the launch. This results in more altitude at release. It also holds energy very well, (which allows for some pretty respectable zooms from a hi-start), but I wouldn't recommend entering it in F3B. However, between the altitude gain from a very moderate zoom, and the higher initial release altitude you get from not having to wind up as much line, total launch height is very good.

Of course if you're planning to beat it to death with fire-breathing contest launches from "Real Balls" equipped winches on a regular basis, you might want to reinforce it a little. If you added some carbon to the spar caps on the inboard panel main spars (for more bending strength) and added some shear webs to both sides of the rear spar (for more torsional stiffness and flutter resistance), it would probably do reasonably well. I'd recommend .014" x 1/2" carbon on top of the upper main spar caps, and .007" x 1/2" carbon on the bottom spar caps. The shear webs are already birch ply, but you might want to epoxy them on. A little 3/4 oz glass cloth wrapped around the spar to tie the carbon caps to the shear webs wouldn't hurt either. Don't forget to use carbon strips instead of the 2" long fiberglass strips across the joint in the main spar when you join the inboard panels to each other at the center section.

Or you could buy a Monarch 'D' 2-meter for the windier days, and learn to have a little finesse with your winch foot when launching your Chrysalis!

Don Stackhouse
DJ Aerotech