Best Overall Motorglider available today?

We owned one for a couple of years.Â* It's very light and was a handful
at Moriarty during our windier months.Â* It will thermal and gain
altitude, but not with a sailplane.Â* It's a great cruiser, capable of
exceeding redline in level flight, so be careful with the throttle.Â* The
Rotax ULS delivered 100 hp with no more than around 7 gallons/hour at
max power, IIRC, and it cruise it burned under 4 gph.Â* Oh, and it has a
ballistic parachute.

On 9/16/2020 5:56 AM, wrote:
Thoughts on the Pipistrel Sinus?

--
Dan, 5J

On Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at 4:16:46 PM UTC-4, Dan Marotta wrote:
We owned one for a couple of years. It's very light and was a handful
at Moriarty during our windier months. It will thermal and gain
altitude, but not with a sailplane. It's a great cruiser, capable of
exceeding redline in level flight, so be careful with the throttle. The
Rotax ULS delivered 100 hp with no more than around 7 gallons/hour at
max power, IIRC, and it cruise it burned under 4 gph. Oh, and it has a
ballistic parachute.
On 9/16/2020 5:56 AM, charles wrote:
Thoughts on the Pipistrel Sinus?
--
Dan, 5J

I was thinking to use it as a long distance low cost/hr cruiser. Sort of like sailboat cruising. Not in a hurry to get where I'm going.

What do you think about its thermaling ability? Do you agree that visibility in, say, 45 degree banked turns is terrible? or is it like, say a Cessna 152 (not great but not terrible)? I wouldn't be soaring it with other gliders in gaggles or such. Just cruise-thermaling to save fuel.

Was also thinking to use it to teach off-field landing approaches at various clubs around the US.

Glide ratio appears to vary depending on config. 30:1 is advertised but tech data shows 27:1 for one model and 23:1 for the heavier model:

https://www.pipistrel-usa.com/sinus/

Ben

On 9/16/2020 5:56 AM, charles wrote:
Thoughts on the Pipistrel Sinus?

Glide ratio appears to vary depending on config. 30:1 is advertised but tech data shows 27:1 for one model and 23:1 for the heavier model:

https://www.pipistrel-usa.com/sinus/

Ben
My flights in a Pipistrel Sinus showed that in a 45-degree bank, the sink rate is quite dramatic, and it takes strong thermals to soar effectively. I enjoyed giving rides to power pilots in which we'd fly around for awhile in airplane ,mode; then I'd stop the engine and feather the prop, and let the airplane pilot glide to a landing (they always handed it back to me at pattern altitude).
Lots of fun, but not a "sailplane" in the XC sense. I can't imagine flying it in weak conditions.
Dan J