In article . net,
says...
There is always this question after a good flight in a MG - was the pilot
good or did he get lucky after a dumb decision? There's no way to tell.

Motorgliders, like pure sailplanes before them, will continue to improve and
the rules for their use will continue to liberalize. It all makes me wonder
if we will end up with mere powered airplanes that must only demonstrate an
ability to "glide" to a landing. This is a slippery slope and if we go that
far, it would be very sad.

When I got my motorglider in 1995, there were still a lot "purists", who
warned me (and others) a motorglider would soon turn me into a real wuss
- little more than a power pilot flying a bad airplane.

The years went by, the purists have almost vanished, and instead of
warnings about what the motorglider will do to me, pilots tell me their
envy at my independence and the flights I make. They express the hope
that some day, they can afford to step up to a motorglider. They know an
ASH 26 E isn't a "mere powered airplane".

We fly merely for the bragging rights.

Surely you don't mean this? Most of us seem to fly for the joy of
soaring, and bragging rights are just an occasional bonus.

MG's are a very convenient,

Convenient at the launch and at the end of a flight if you didn't get
home, but otherwise more trouble. Anything with an engine is more hassle
and expense to own.

low risk,

My experience: to maintain the same risk you would have flying a
motorless glider, you must be a more careful pilot. This is due to the
extra complexity of operation, the additional maintenance required, and
the additional vulnerability during self-launch. Not everyone is up to
the task.

low effort way to fly.

I have no idea what you mean by this. I work just as hard now as I did
before. I know what does reduce the effort to fly: more L/D! Every time
I went up in L/D, the flying got easier, and I didn't get in trouble as
often.

Pure sailplanes are hard work and require that
an endless series of difficult decisions be made before and during flight.

I haven't noticed a motor reducing the decision making or the work, but
I have noticed more L/D can reduce the number of decisions I _need_ to
make. The more L/D I have, the better the "waffle along until I blunder
into a thermal" technique works, for example.

Pure sailplanes will always earn the greatest bragging rights for any given
flight.

They should also earn the greatest points in contests.

I think JJ is right to dig in his heels and insist that this sport remain
soaring in the traditional sense.

And what is "soaring in the traditional sense" when we are talking about
contests? In the 28+ years I've been with this sport, I've seen contests
change considerably. Remember when we used to choose our own launch
times? When we flew distance tasks - real distance tasks when you left
as soon as you could stay up, and flew straight out until you couldn't
stay up? Exactly what "tradition" would you have us remain with?

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