Purists are from Pluto, Motorgliderists are from Mars - #2

On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 10:45:17 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
Probably the motorgliders had a better day THAT day. But what if one
had crashed in the mountains (possibly fatally) because his engine
wouldn't start?

The engine is a double edged sword. Use it well and it will be a great
benefit to your soaring experience. Rely on it too heavily and it will
rise up and bite thine ass.

Dan
5J
On 4/12/21 7:39 PM, Wallace Berry wrote:
Just a sort of relevant anecdote: Was flying a contest at Uvalde where the task area has both flat land and mountains. One day a MAT task was called. It was almost totally blue over the flat ground but cu's were popping in the mountains. The motorgliders pretty much all went into the mountains to fly their extra turns. The non-motors stayed in the flats. Guess who had the better day.

Yes, I fully understand the risks depending on the MOP. Has happened to a number of people I know with varying consequences from complete destruction of the glider with severe personal injury, to last-minute-last-ditch ground loop landings in brushy pea patches, to normal off-field landings. My point is: In that competition situation, it was less risky for the motorgliders to go up into the hills than it was for the pure gliders. So much so that the pure gliders just didn't go there. The motorgliders gained a distinct competitive advantage. I am not a particularly serious race guy, so doesn't bother me much. I do get a bit tired of the "motorgliders have no competitive advantage in racing" refrain. Would I penalize motorgliders or banish them back to a motorglider class? Heavens, no. We are having enough problems getting contests to fill up as it is. Besides, the technological race going on between IC, electric, and jet MOP is interesting. Before I understood some of the tech problems, I even made serious inquiries into having my glider modified with electric propulsion.

Wallace Berry wrote on 4/13/2021 11:49 AM:

On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 10:45:17 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:

Probably the motorgliders had a better day THAT day. But what if one
had crashed in the mountains (possibly fatally) because his engine
wouldn't start?

The engine is a double edged sword. Use it well and it will be a great
benefit to your soaring experience. Rely on it too heavily and it will
rise up and bite thine ass.

Dan
5J
On 4/12/21 7:39 PM, Wallace Berry wrote:

Just a sort of relevant anecdote: Was flying a contest at Uvalde where the task area has both flat land and mountains. One day a MAT task was called. It was almost totally blue over the flat ground but cu's were popping in the mountains. The motorgliders pretty much all went into the mountains to fly their extra turns. The non-motors stayed in the flats. Guess who had the better day.


Yes, I fully understand the risks depending on the MOP. Has happened to a number of people I know with varying consequences from complete destruction of the glider with severe personal injury, to last-minute-last-ditch ground loop landings in brushy pea patches, to normal off-field landings. My point is: In that competition situation, it was less risky for the motorgliders to go up into the hills than it was for the pure gliders. So much so that the pure gliders just didn't go there. The motorgliders gained a distinct competitive advantage. I am not a particularly serious race guy, so doesn't bother me much. I do get a bit tired of the "motorgliders have no competitive advantage in racing" refrain. Would I penalize motorgliders or banish them back to a motorglider class? Heavens, no. We are having enough problems getting contests to fill up as it is. Besides, the technological race going on between IC, electric, and jet MOP is interesting. Before I understood some of the tech problems, I even made serious inquiries into having my glider modified with electric propulsion.


" My point is: In that competition situation, it was less risky for the motorgliders to go up
into the hills than it was for the pure gliders."

That's an unusual situation to me, so I'd like to learn more about it. Can you tell me what
contest and what day that was? And specifically, what made it "less risky" for the powered
gliders: less safety risk, less scoring risk, less risk of a long retrieve, or something else?

--
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

On Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 11:50:01 AM UTC-7, wrote:
My point is: In that competition situation, it was less risky for the motorgliders to go up into the hills than
it was for the pure gliders. So much so that the pure gliders just didn't go there. The motorgliders gained
a distinct competitive advantage. I am not a particularly serious race guy, so doesn't bother me much.
I do get a bit tired of the "motorgliders have no competitive advantage in racing" refrain.

You must have never flown against anyone such as some of the top 10 US racing pilots I flew with back in the 1980's - 1990's. Many would fly their ASW-20, Ventus, etc. deep into tiger country with no hope of a safe landing if no lift was found. On many occasions, I would choose that time to find a different route.

Once at Minden, I was an early starter and got as far south as some high terrain, but couldn't get high enough to clear it safely. After hanging out on a ridge for close to an hour, "the mob" showed up, all a few hundred feet below me. Off they went into the high ground. I followed because I now felt that they would either mark lift, or at least one would land somewhere without breaking their ship, marking a spot for me :-) Several landed in some tiny meadows and amazingly without damage. I completed the task!

5Z