On Monday, April 6, 2015 at 8:23:35 AM UTC-6, jfitch wrote:
I fly an ASH26e, which has probably the most reliable auxiliary IC motor installed in a glider (it is not a 2 stroke).

Indeed the '26 Wankel rotary is reliable but it's a mistake to categorically condemn 2-strokes. There are reliable ones and some not so reliable - it all depends on the engineering invested in the engine's design.

I once owned a 2-stroke Jawa/CZ motorcycle which would always kick-start on the first try even when cold-soaked well below zero. In fact, one didn't even need to kick it as it would start by slowly depressing the kick-start lever by hand. To call it dead-reliable would be an understatement. Maintenance consisted of periodically cleaning/replacing the spark plugs and nothing else.

The issue with many 2-strokes which require mixing oil with the fuel is that oil congeals in the carburettor passages if the engine is not run regularly. There are some expensive synthetic 2-stroke oils that claim to mitigate this.