I bought into a LAK17BFES in the spring. Once the batteries were back from
LZ I have had a great time flying it in a mixture of XC and ridge flying.

The engine start is as easy as advertised and has taken some of the stress
away from some low level ridge running this autumn certainly! With a young
family the thought of a muddy field and the retrieve I probably wouldn't
have flown!

Anyway, I'm 6ft 2 and fit in the LAK fine. It seems to run pretty well
with V2s etc but when the lift gets weak it seemed to lose out a bit to the
JS1 I have been flying with (although Matt is a better pilot than I am -
but don't tell him I said that).

I can't talk about the "over the other side of the pond" issues relating to
transport but it is a thumbs up for the LAK/FES system so far in the 6
months I have owned one.







At 14:34 30 November 2018, wrote:
Good morning to all from a very grey and mushy Montreal,

I want to thank everyone for posting and sharing their experiences with
tho=
se of us who are looking at buying some type of FES equipped sailplane
down=
the road. Please keep this thread going with your own impressions on
this
=
most fascinating technological development. I especially want to thank
Luka=
for jumping in and sharing the latest in 'forensic' battery research. If
e=
ver there was an authority on this advancement in green and very compact
pr=
opulsion, it surely is him and his company. And while I am sensitive to
the=
many challenges of developing this technology and bringing it to soaring
c=
ommunity, my concerns are mainly to do with support of these high
capacity
=
storage devices once they reach foreign shores, far from the factories of
b=
oth the glider, power plant AND battery manufacturers, in a galaxy far,
far=
away.......

From the sidelines of my club this past soaring season, I watched two
fell=
ow members and LAK 17b FES owner enjoy their 21m toy....WITHOUT the
benefit=
of that rather expensive FES option. Now, these two fellows hardly need
th=
is technology, as their long distance flights attest to, and they do not
se=
em hampered by the LAK (lack, get it?) of FES in the slightest, even
under
=
weak soaring conditions. However, even after you factor in the time to
comp=
lete the investigation into the cause of the fires, issuance of the
emergen=
cy Airworthiness Directive on the storage device, design and
implementation=
of the manufacturer's supported battery box modification, I still find
it
=
very disturbing that these customers, after having spent some
considerable
=
coinage on this technology, were left high and dry without a suitable
batte=
ry replacement, not to be found anywhere across North America. Now, it is
a=
ll very nice for you folks living in Europe to simply send the defective
or=
recalled units back from whence they came, but when a lithium device
here
=
is declared 'defective', it is essentially treated for what is, to wit,
'Da=
ngerous Goods' under the act of the same name as set forth by various
membe=
rs if IATA, including Canada.=20

So then, as this technology matures and improves every year, sometimes at
a=
snail's pace, at others, leaps and bounds, my question is really a
simple
=
one, and back to the essence of the original post, which FES/Self-Launch
sa=
ilplane is worthy of my consideration? The next time a problem with the
sto=
rage unit is encountered, and let us be frank, problems WILL be
encountered=
, even if it isn't traceable to a design or manufacturing flaw, who will
co=
me to my rescue with a replacement battery, if only a temporary or loaner
u=
nit, to at least see me through the very short gliding season in my
region?=
Batteries in service, even with the best of care, have a hard life. They
g=
et dropped. The get left outdoors by the trailer or vehicle, in the sun
and=
the rain. They get left on cold concrete floors or in trailers. They are
l=
eft unattended on chargers for extended periods of time.......I digress,
th=
is has all been covered before, and there are very clear directives
issued
=
by Luka and others on what NOT to do with these batteries whilst in
service=
, but mistakes still happen. What I don't understand, or much less
accept,
=
is how come there are no provisions here, ANYWHERE in North America, to
sen=
d 'muy-rapido-express-now-or-better-yet-yesterday' replacement units when
M=
urphy pays a visit? Surely, if the combined efforts of LAK, GP,
Schempp-Hi=
rth, Silent, and yes, LZ Design, can't provide for support of a these
stora=
ge units, either by way of replacement units, or handling of defective
unit=
s, or preferably both, the effort of marketing this development in North
Am=
erica will, I dare say, be 'rather difficult'.=20

Thank you all again, and I look forward to more informative rebuttal.=20

John Hebert