Tango Eight wrote on 12/26/2017 6:19 AM:
On Monday, December 25, 2017 at 11:15:18 PM UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Even if the scoring ends with the motor
starting, having a motor can change how the soaring is done.

Behold: honesty. Rare enough to be noteworthy. Thanks, Eric.

I fly a motor glider because it can change how the soaring is done; the result is
I do more soaring, and more interesting soaring, than I would with a towed glider.
I have 2000+ hours in towed gliders, double that in my motorglider, so I'm very
aware of both situations.

As Jon suggests, you could have a very dedicated retrieve crew (and I do - but she
does say the motorglider is the best glider we've ever had) and achieve similar
independence, especially if the crew had a towplane and could tow. It seemed
easier to get a motorglider.

To expand a bit on Jon's point: having a Nimbus 4 instead of a 1-26 will change
how the soaring is done, too, in a big way, bigger than flying a motorized 1-26
(or equivalent). The equipment always affects the choices you make while soaring.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf