On 25 Sep 2003 13:06:57 -0700, (Tom Serkowski)
wrote:

Holy cow Bill, you can't be serious?!

The only differences I've observed so far a

- I can take a 'tow' when I feel like it and can 'release' at a place
convenient to me. In other words, I don't wait in line for takeoff
and I have the 'towplane' all to myself and can 'hang on' for 20 or 30
miles as I seek a good/convenient place to release. This, of course,
is not while participating in a contest.

- I worry less about needing a retreive. I still think about it and
plan my glides appropriately. I sweat just as hard in my ASH-26E as I
did in the ASW-20B when I'm low. I don't want to use the engine. It
'spoils' a soaring acheivement for me.

The bottom line is that flying a self-launcher or turbo, is probably
very similar to going XC back in the 40's and 50's. Back then
sailplanes flew slow enough that the crew could generally keep up and
stay below the pilot. Today, XC speeds are just too high (nost of the
time) for this to be possible. The motor is just an extension of the
crew. When I finally do start the engine and begin climbing away, I'm
just as exhausted and disappointed as I would have been if I'd landed.
And, I don't think I've put any less effort into the flight than your
'pure' sailplane pilot.

Flying as if the motor will ALWAYS start is a very bad idea and is
equivalent to pressing on because 'there will be a thermal ahead'. In
either case, the plane and the pilot may be hurt. Some people do it
anyway, whether they have a motor or not. So where on your 'hero
list' would you put the 'pure' sailplane pilot who pushed on into
unlandable terrain and got away with it?

-Tom
ASH-26E (5Z)

I completely agree, Tom.
As I said the other day there are gliders and there are motorless
gliders.

Having to start the motor means the equivalent of a landout. Doesn't
feel real good but I can avoid the risk of actually landing in the
field I've picked. In this country we have a lot of SWER lines(Single
Wire Earth Return) for mains power distribution in rural areas. They
like to hide the poles in clumps of trees. We also have a lots of
rabbits and the two main hazards of landing out are dropping the wheel
in a rabbit hole(can't see from the air and there are other
equivalent surface hazards) or hitting a hidden SWER line.

I find flying a self launcher an immensely liberating experience due
to not depending on a towplane and pilot.

One other thing you might all like to contemplate is this:
With the growth of agribusiness, GM foods and things like the foot and
mouth disease outbreak in the UK last year do you think it will be
socially acceptable to fly motorless gliders cross country in the
future? And land willy nilly in fields? It is one thing to have an
engine fail to start and have to land out. It is another to not even
have the means to do so.

Mike Borgelt