No speculation.

After such a long flight, having been cooled by the high altitude the chances
that the battery would be able to crank the pylon up is remote. (It should be at
full nominal charge as it is charged in flight by a generator)
If it did extend, the chances that there would be enough power available spin a
two stroke engine at well below freezing point, fast enough to start is even
more remote.
Then you have fuel that may have gelled at low temperature, and the probability
of carburettor icing.

I don't think there is much speculation. The chances of starting your engine
under these circumstances must be almost zero.

Bruce

Alan Irving wrote:
Speculation on whose part? I'm merely reporting what
Ohlmann himself said. Perhaps he was speculating that
the engine wouldn't start after spending 15 hours at
sub zero temperatures - do you actually think it would?

Seeing how meticulous he was in all other facets of
his preparation, I imagine he might have tried the
motor during a local flight to confirm that it wouldn't
start. But that's just speculation...

At 15:12 28 June 2004, Andrew Henderson wrote:

That's speculation, and the record whilst a magnificent
flight is not the same as one without an engine.

Are you saying that in all of Klaus's previous practise
flights at these heights he never started the engine
to get home because the flight 'wasn't on'? I think
not.

Andy Henderson

At 14:18 28 June 2004, Alan Irving wrote:

When Klaus Ohlmann talked about his Argentinian record
flights at the BGA conference a few years back, I believe
he said that having spent all day at 20,000+ feet the
engine in the Stemme would be highly unlikely to start.
Hence there is no more 'opt out' than if the flight
had been done in a pure sailplane, and the aachievement
is no less valid.