Does FES make soaring more or less accident prone?

Robert Fidler wrote on 4/9/2015 8:32 AM:
I believe statistics show, any time your make something more
complicated, statistically the device will have a greater chance to
be more prone for mistakes. Unfortunately, aircraft tend to be less
forgiving than other devices. Sad but true.

It depends on what you consider the "something". You are likely
considering the glider only, which will be more complicated with an
engine; however, I consider the "something" to be the soaring I will do
with the glider.

When I flew unpowered gliders, I'd land out a few times a year - that
makes soaring more complicated.

For the last 20 years, I've flown a powered glider, and my wife says
"it's the best glider we've ever had - it always gets home!" Life is
simpler now, with a powered glider. And, I get to do a lot more soaring
in a lot more places than I did before, because it's a self-launcher,
not a sustainer. But, if you can get a tow when you want it, the
sustainer can be the best choice (density altitude caveat).

Read my Guide (see link below) to discover how I avoid increasing my risk.

--
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
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf