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

On 4/28/2021 8:06 PM, wrote:
On Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 10:18:59 PM UTC-4, jfitch wrote:
Bob my friend, don't want you to have to wait long for the answers:
#1) the flight management is the same, for the soaring part of the flight.
Obviously a self launcher will manage the launch differently, and at the
cessation of soaring flight, the MG may be able to start and drive home while
the Purist will need to box and trail home. If there is a difference, it is
that the MG will need to cease soaring flight first, due to things already
mentioned many times. The MG will get home earlier and with less labor, at a
higher cost. It will take the Purist more time and labor, but at a much lower
cost. The Purist might hire a charter helicopter to fly him back to the
airport, and a paid crew to retrieve the glider to the same (and more
reliable) effect. It could still be cheaper than a motorglider. Might a MG
owner, having already paid $60K for a lawnmower engine in the back, be more
willing to find himself farther from home at the end of the soaring day,
knowing that he is likely to still be home for dinner? Sure - but the Purist
would as well, if he had written a non-refundable $60K check against future
retrieves, which he could do if he chose. Spending money often saves you some
extra work, and it does in this case.

#2) In a real (SSA or FAI) contest they should be scored the same as they fly
to exactly the same rules requiring exactly the same skills. In OLC or other
quasi-contests, scoring is largely arbitrary so do what you like. If you can
get the OLC community to agree to scoring them differently, I've no objection
(but I should admit I have little interest in OLC).

#3) Risk management is the same, as one can no more depend on the engine
starting than one can depend on finding a thermal at 500 AGL. The same
mindset that depends on the engine start will look for that elusive thermal
until they hit the trees. Sadly this happens too often, just look at the
accident record. With or without an unreliable engine, safe practice is and
has always been to have a safe landing site within glide.

Rather than spread erroneous opinions on these subjects, I'd suggest you
educate yourself by flying say 5000 miles cross country in a motorglider.
Over the swamps and over the rocks. Then you could speak from experience,
rather than ignorance. I do not know anyone who has that experience spouting
the same untruths. Here's some homework for you: fly your towplane out over
the ocean 5 miles further than engine out glide from the beach. Then shut
that reliable, certified engine off and let it cool a bit. You know you can
restart it, right? Do that four or five times. How's your mindset?



Jon, my friend, I was anxiously awaiting your reply, I just knew that you
would bloviate about the three scenarios that I presented. What is happening
here is that you are suffering from MGD, a disease that is onset with the
delusional thoughts and lack if understanding of reality. Scoring as I
referenced is not associated with contest, I could care less about that. What
I have advocated is that there should be a different scoring platform in OLC
for Purist vs MG and that those two platforms are different in many ways, you
seem not to think so. The flight management is not the same nor is the risk
management the same, they are completely different IMHO. So we certainly
differ on these three aspects, actually didn't think we would find much common
ground. I did appreciate your reply.
I have a busy day tomorrow, must get the irrigation going on the mango trees.
Your friend, Old Bob


It's the OLC scoring that bothers you? Holy buckets, don't you know the OLC is
not a real contest, and that you can tally up the scores any way you please?
Pilots are flying hugely different gliders in hugely different conditions all
over the world, and there is no way to handicap them evenly. The
motored/unmotored is the smallest factor in the pilot's performance.


--
Eric Greenwell - USA
- "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1