Enjoying this thread. I'm a newbie - flying XC for about a year now. I definitely would like self-launch capability and just some 'modest' sustaining capacity left over. My land outs and close calls to-date could have all been mitigated by 10min (or less) of sustaining assist. If I fly so deep into marginal conditions that I need an hour of power to get home, I must have really made some bad decisions. Soaring conditions here in southern AZ are pretty great but land out options can be challenging. I see sustaining needs as more about dealing with localized exceptions and improving your land out choices. If I needed 1 launch or 10-15min flight time, I don't think the conditions were aligned for the XC flight I was looking for anyway.

Example: I was recently surprised by continuous 7-9kt sink over a 15mi final glide. I started out with a 3200' agl arrival altitude cushion and watched it drop to 200ft as I soldiered home and left my last favorable LO options behind. I was stuck looking at an emergency bailout on a mine tailing that has generated a number of scary tales in my club. I was lucky to find some lift off a local feature just 2mi out and got enough altitude to make the field in good shape. 2-3min of powered sustaining flight would have made that a non-event.

One launch and some modest assist capacity would be awesome and fit my primary goals:
- independent launch capability
- backup for the times I need a short boost to avoid a land out or help get me to a safer land out option
- I'm ok with landing out on occasion if its safe and retrievable
- Really prefer electric over ICE

Seems like the current mast-mounted electric technology is just about there for my goals. It's now more about solution maturity, track record, and $$ as I watch how things shake out. I do, however, want hear about alternate use models and scenarios that could affect my decisions.

JJ