On Tuesday, July 25, 2017 at 2:16:19 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Monday, July 24, 2017 at 4:01:16 PM UTC-6, wrote:
My flight yesterday...

https://youtu.be/uFTgSqcalus

Thanks for posting. The video held interest because this is my old stomping grounds and I have been enamored with the Ximango since seeing fly at Oshkosh about 20 years ago. If you were up for 4 hours you must have been having a good time. Your FB page shows tours available. Do you do Self Launch endorsements? I fly a pure glider but I have wanted to try a Touring glider because I occasionally fly point A-B in power and where I live the soaring season is not all that long so it gives me something to do.
Something I have noticed from asking around about Touring Motor Gliders over the years is that I have gotten a lot of really staunch opinion where pilots really trash certain makes and models of TMGs. I have not noticed this very much with pure gliders and it is too bad because a guy cannot just go out and rent a (Fill in the blank) motor glider and see for themselves.

The Touring Motorglider Association (https://www.motorgliders.org/) has fly-ins a couple of times a year. This is a great opportunity to talk to TMG owners and get rides in a variety of models.

TMGs are a great alternative for pilots who want to have a reasonable performance sailplane, but also want to be able to use the aircraft as a power plane. In particular, TMGs are a great alternative to a conventional power aircraft if you want to fly over hostile, unlandable terrain. With 50 - 60 miles final glide if you are flying at 10,000 ft and have an engine failure, you can fly throughout the Caribbean and be within gliding distance of an airport at all times.

I was seriously looking at buying a Ximango, before I finally broke down and ordered my Phoenix motorglider. One of my primary considerations was to buy a TMG that fit into a standard T-Hangar. The Ximango, with it's folding wing fit the bill. Unfortunately, during the folding process you have very little leverage when the wing is just transitioning thru the vertical position, and it can be a VERY scary process that can cause a lot of damage if you loose your grip. The Phoenix on the other hand has removable wing tips that weigh about 15 lbs each, which is a much better option for an older pilot.

The other downside of the Ximango is it's load capacity. It is only certified for I believe 10 KG of baggage. With full fuel and two adults, you really don't have any gross weight margin for luggage. The Phoenix, on the other hand can carry almost 100 lbs of baggage, two adults and full fuel.

There are a number of other TMGs available. Each has pluses and minuses. The big thing to watch out for is the wingspan with tips removed. The Lambada and Sinus are just over 40', so they won't fit in a standard American T-Hangar with a 40' door. Stemmes have great glide performance but are quite expensive and have a more complicated wing folding mechanism and are mechanically quite complicated. Etc.....

Checkout the forums on motorgliders.org. There is a wealth of information there.