I just started to fly motorglider this autumn. It's just a Falke
(touring motorglider) so not the same system what was mentioned in the
previous mails. BUT I find myself more and more in situations where I
wouldn't be with stdCirrus I generally fly. It has much less performance
(l/d ~ 22, wmin ~ 1m/s) than the cirrus but trust in the engine I fly
far from the safe gliding distances. It seems I'm not alone with this
"bad" habit... Most of the pilots are touring on 5-600m without
continuously checking landable fields where average glider pilot already
started to plan landing.
Of course with this plane you don't have to open or close engine bay
doors and open the engine, just push one button to start the engine.

/Janos