On Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 3:51:59 PM UTC-4, Nick Kennedy wrote:
This looks very nice, fairly new.
I don't know anything about these planes; can you soar them or do you need to be under a Cu-Nim to go XC?
Nick
T

I’ve owned and flown three Rotax powered touring motorgliders, over the last 15 years, for a total of 2000+ hours.

In great conditions you can stay up all day, and cross country adventures are possible, albeit not speedy ones, due to the relatively poor penetration..

There are a couple of terrific advantages for these machines.

1) they are suitable for extended powered flights, with a range of several hundred miles at 100kts;
2) on soaring days they can get you to where the lift is, away from the airfield, then back at the end of the day;
3) they are sociable side-by-side two-place ships with reasonable luggage space;
4) on weak days they can be flown with an engine idle set for a sink rate that simulates a higher
performance glider. This is VERY helpful for building pilot experience and confidence in finding lift.
5) they can be flown in weak ridge conditions, low on the ridge, with the engine idling, with a plan B in the event that lift disappears;
6) they allow you to fly on any day, without assistance from a tow plane or ground crew.