On Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 4:46:57 PM UTC-7, wrote:
but this would be very easy to do with electric.

I love it when armchair aircraft designers tell us something is "very easy."

"armchair aircraft designers"... lol. I'll have to show you some of my more challenging, and very much finished, aerospace projects someday

I'm currently installing a Rotax on my ship. Electric is interesting, and I can certainly understand why it appeals to many. I personally favor the increased range of gasoline over the cleanliness and convenience of electric. Others will have different preferences. Either option can eliminate tows and retrieves, which is all well and good. However, a motor glider that "will start" can do a lot of things that a motor glider that "will probably start" cannot.

It would be a game changer if I could "safely" fly deep into unlandable terrain, or ridge soar the lip of the grand canyon. I'd love to plan some epic soaring safaris to rugged areas of Alaska, or make first flights in magnificent places. It would also be a whole new ballgame if I could reduce my restart altitude to something like 200ft. That sounds crazy until you figure out that's about 90 seconds at typical sink rates. If it takes only 10 seconds to transition to a powered climb, then 90 seconds provides plenty of margin.

The first electric motor gliders borrowed the retractable mast from their gasoline counterparts. Later, folks figured out that the smaller electric motor could fit in the nose. I think it's only a matter of time before people discover that we can use more than one motor, as is the trend for VTOL. Perhaps I'll get around to this at some point but I currently have a couple of more pressing crazy projects on my plate.