Kidding aside, I think most glider pilots would find their enjoyment of
soaring quite enhanced by a sustainer that provided as little as 3000
feet of climb. I think most landouts could be avoided with that much
"reserve", and it would give pilots the confidence to fly more often and
fly further.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)

3000 feet of climb would do it for me -- especially if "instant on"
like the FES, no drag (sorry, serious competitions), light weight (a
big issue. I like to climb in weak lift, not turn on the motor!) and
little maintenance. For almost all contest flying 3000' gets you to
an airport if it does not get you home.

From an engineering standpoint, I don't really see why the electrics
don't also charge the battery. If you climb to 3000', in 20 minutes,
surely running the prop in generator mode for 20 minutes or so,
doubling your sink rate temporarily, should recharge the batteries?
This could make a 3000' capacity enough for self launch and
retrieve!.

John Cochrane