Bill Daniels wrote:
"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message

They are currently most attractive to the lighter sailplanes, not the
pilots with a fully ballasted 15 meter racer. A really good fit might be
for sustainer-equiped gliders instead of self-launchers. For that
purpose, the easy operation, low weight, simple installation, low
maintenance, and (relatively) low cost would be ideal. The Silent, for
example, would only need one engine for sustainer use (and only 5
gallons of fuel for 1 hour operation), and noise at ground level
wouldn't be factor at all.


I have to agree that they could have an interesting future.

Glasflugel has announced a jet engine as an option on their 304S glider,
so maybe the future is "now" (or at least, "soon").


That was Bob Carlson's idea. Instead of 75 gallons of water in my Nimbus 2C
wings, he asked, how about Jet-A? Instead of dumping ballast when running
out of altitude and ideas, burn it in the jet engines and come home. The N2
could cruise at over 100mph for 7.5 hours using Bob's twin jets.

Unfortunately, that 75 Gallons of Jet-A would cost $250 today.

Think how much a 750 mile (1000+ by car, each way) retrieve would cost
(with motels) - and how long it would take!

I'm also thinking about what would be involved in the tanks for that
much fuel, how you would get 75 gallons of Jet-A into it at the airport,
and if everyone at the airport would scatter when you arrived back to
land after a successful flight - with the 75 gallons still on board. And
also the conversations with the FAA about a glider with 75 gallons of
Jet-A. Life would be interesting, for sure!

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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA