On Tuesday, August 6, 2019 at 11:42:52 AM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
Not in my Stemme.Â* It *does* have two heat sensors in the engine bay to
light up a big red light and sound a buzzer, but fire means get out.Â*
Period.

On 8/5/2019 9:15 PM, JS wrote:
With the well known outcome of a fire, every composite aircraft with an engine or motor of some sort has a built-in fire extinguisher.
All the manufacturers have that option.
Jim

--
Dan, 5J

I have heard of far too many "failure to start" incidents with jets to consider them a viable self-retrieve option. Just consider it a bonus if they do start.

FES is far more reliable, assuming the battery fire incidents are a thing of the past (there have been design changes to the battery). Watched a mini-LAK FES self-launch at Ely, NV (6200') recently with a 200+ lb pilot on a warm day. Same glider did do a partial self-retrieve. Advantage of both FES and jet is they don't lose power with altitude (although the prop does lose thrust); not so with an ICE. By taking a tow, he had an hour of level cruise available, or about 90 miles at these altitudes. The batteries are removed from the glider for charging, which only takes a couple of hours using a 20 amp circuit. With a spare set of batteries the glider could be flown multiple times per day. Maintenance of an FES should be less than a jet.

While the fit and finish of the mini LAK was not up to German standards, it was still pretty good, and at about half the cost of a 31Mi (but with 2/3 of the wing span). It's not for me, but I can see where it would be a decent entry-level motorglider.

PS, one unexpected benefit of FES: he could match the glide performance of an ASH31Mi by simply running the motor at reduced RPM, allowing them to fly together.

Tom