FES underpowered for 18m ship?

It's a different mindset. With your self launcher, and my conventional
turbo, if you start the engine you drive home.

With my FES if I need to climb I only climb as little as possible, then I'm
back in the "Soaring" game to get as close to home as I can. I just have
the option of setting my glide angle to something more favourable. And in
the UK will almost certainly have the option of an Airfield on the way home
if I need it

If the engine dies then I'm still in the same situation all of us are in,
so I don't fly over unlandable terrain with or without the FES running
(I'll make an exception for the Solent)

Flying in the UK 1200ft normally gives a pretty wide choice of fields

KN



At 21:37 22 September 2020, waremark wrote:
'I can climb quickly from 200m to 400m (500 - 1200ft) then have
enough left for 75km in stillish air. Low power is more efficient so
if you recognise the day is dying earlier you don=E2=80=99t need to
invest
the charge in climbing so range is much better. It will never
match the range of a conventional turbo but will always get you
away from a farmer=E2=80=99s field to an airfield near home.'

Are you saying that you would cruise home level at 1,200 foot above the
gro=
und? Depending on the terrain you are flying over, how can that enable
you
=
always to have somewhere to land if the motor dies? In my petrol
self-launc=
her, even over fairly flat land, I would typically climb at least to
3,000
=
foot before leveling off and cruising home at 85 knots (if I am not
feeling=
impatient I generally climb as high as I need to glide home).