US Dollar sinks to new low against Euro

Bob Korves wrote:

After being around self launchers for many years, however, I mostly
remember watching the owners fiddle with them, and then send the prop
in for an AD, wait 3 months, then fiddle some more, and then send the
engine in for an AD, wait another 3 months, and then fiddle some
more.

Was that a Stemme you were around?

Well, maybe I am exaggerating at little.

THey do require more maintenance than an unpowered sailplane because of
the motor. Most of the time, it can be deferred to the winter or other
times you can't fly anyway. The other side of the coin is an entire club
shut down because of a towplane problem, which I've experienced more
often than a problem with my motor.

The other issue is that for the extra cost of the engine I could buy
a Pawnee and have enough left over to hire a cute tow pilot on the
interest it earned.

Maybe a bit more exaggeration.

IF you fly a lot (40+ flights a year), you can save more on tow and
retrieve fees than the extra cost of interest, insurance, and
maintenance. That's also an exaggeration, but not much. And the engine
does hold it's value, so you can get your money back when you sell it.

I suppose if you are antisocial or live in a part of the country
where there are no tow planes, have time only during the week when
the club is closed, or whatever, and have lots of money, and time for
fiddling, then a self launcher would be dandy.

It's also dandy for other purposes, and dandy even if most of those
things aren't true. You quoted Steve Hill's posting, now you should read
it more carefully!


I happen to like the people in this sport at least as well as I like
the flying. I sometimes actually enjoy waiting in a tow line telling
war stories with my buddies. Nothing beats the Saturday night
barbecue at the gliderport. Not that having a self launcher excludes
you from any of this, of course.

Another reason I don't seek self launchers is that I am not really
good at complexity. I have enough trouble with the few levers and
knobs is a pure glider. While learning to use flaps I did just about
every dumb thing one can do with that single additional handle. A
little voice in my head tells me that the complexity of a self
launcher is not a good thing for me, personally.

This is an excellent reason for sticking with unpowered gliders. Safely
flying a motorglider does take more discipline and care than an
unpowered glider. You are no longer just a glider pilot, but also the
"tow" pilot.

I think I am usually immune to peer pressure and my perceived
standing in the gliding community. Somehow, though, after I
completed a long and difficult flight in trying conditions, and
somebody said "But you have an engine" -- I might have a problem with
that!

This used annoy me, but I don't hear it anymore. Pilots are much more
aware of motorgliders now, so mostly, they ask thoughtful questions
about how my flying differs, now that I have an engine. They can see I'm
flying farther and in more interesting conditions than comparable
gliders/pilots, yet I usually come back with a cold engine. It whets
their curiosity.

I am having a lot of fun with this post and I'm sure I have raised
Eric Greenwell's blood pressure by now. I guess I need to tell the
other side of the story. Last summer I met a pilot from Denmark,
Francis, several times who was in the U.S. flying his DG-400 all
around the western part of the country. And I mean all around. He
started in Texas, worked his way up to Washington state, and was on
his way back to Texas. He had done this sort of thing many times, in
Europe, Morocco, etc. He does this every year. He lives out of a
plastic grocery sack stuffed into the tiny luggage shelf of the
glider. We took him to motels and to dinner since we had cars. This
guy was living my daydream!

And then there are the two Germans that flew their ASH 26 Es from
Houston to Alaska, and back!

Eric is also a pilot that really uses his self launcher well and
often. He is a great guy, sociable, and fun to fly with.

Why, thanks, Bob!

I'm sure that there are many others out there, too. So a self
launcher can be a wonderful thing.

I would rather spend my meager gliding money buying more L/D with
several wonderful partners in really nice ships than buying a stinky,
noisy engine and propeller to fiddle with. If I won that lottery
today, I don't think I would change what I am doing now. As always,
YMMV.

They aren't for everyone, but there are plenty of people that don't
realize how much they would enjoy one, because they don't know very much
about them and how they can improve their soaring experience. Generally,
the $premium$ for the engine stops them thinking about the good things
that make it worthwhile.

--
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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA