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Old March 14th 17, 04:24 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Eric Greenwell[_4_]
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Posts: 1,939
Default All US Records are Now Motor Glider Records

krasw wrote on 3/13/2017 10:56 AM:
Well if it's any consolation, every motorglider pilot know that real gliding is done without engine behind back, and most of them wouldn't dare to go anywhere if there was a slightest chance for outlanding. Chicken.


Not so. Many MG pilots will routinely accept the risk of an outlanding if the
motor doesn't start, because always flying within reach of an airport can often be
very limiting. Occasionally, these pilots land in a field somewhere, and the extra
170 pounds in the fuselage does not ease the retrieve!

There are, of course, many pilots without a motor that "wouldn't dare to go
anywhere if there was a slightest chance for outlanding".

I've flown thousands of hours in unpowered gliders, and thousands in motorgliders.
Every minute seemed like real gliding, once the engine disappeared into the
fuselage, and the engine allowed me to have wonderful flights over the many places
in North America that do not have a tow plane. Motorglider, motorhome, and a wife
able and willing to drive the latter while pulling the empty trailer for the
former - priceless!

--
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