The winch is an excellent training tool that enjoys a much wider profit margin per launch than aerotow.
This is primarily because the maintenance costs are significantly lower. A periodic engine overhaul is neither legally prescribed nor does it induce such things as $400 special assessments.
I might add that several days when we had a sufficient crew I tried to instruct and supervise a small operation. Often, some members of the club attempted to shut these operations down, citing a requisite minimum experience level known only to them or an observation that the wind was something other than light and variable.
In my mind, this can only speak to an inherent fear of winch operations as a whole and a deep seated doubt about the safety of the procedures we have developed. To those people I would politely recommend that we start a dialogue about those fears, and I would encourage those people to come train with us further to gain firsthand experience into the safety, versatility and fun that comes with winch flying.
For the amount of financial (greater than $55 thousand, yes?) and temporal effort we have put into adopting it, and the volume of instruction we get from it, I would be very disdainful of a decision to let the winch go.
Best
Tim