seaplane motoglider?

What's the defination of a motorglider?

John

Morgans wrote:
OK, here's a question. Does a seaplane motoglider exist?

If someone were to make one, would it be eligible to be flown as a
motoglider, and therefore be able to have a pilot (without a medical) fly it
legally as a motoglider?

And yes, I did Google, first. g

John Ammeter wrote:

What's the defination of a motorglider?

John

My GUESS would be any airplane that is designed to be taken off under power
and intentionally powered down. Oh and yes, most important, registered that
way!
I supposed you could built a 747 look alike (remember the post about the 747
plans?) and register it as a glider (with what about a 5 to 1 glide
ratio!). Now that would be interesting!
John

Dick Schreder started a self-launched seaplane glider project back in the
1970s. I believe he was going to call it a HP-21. The project was never
finished and was donated to Penn State University (PSU) prior to his death.

The HP-21 was to be a two-place, side-by-side, self-launching, amphibious
sailplane with automatic extending and retracting engine. Design specs
called for a foam and fiberglass hull, retractable gear and wings
constructed of metal and foam (like the HP-16, RS-15 and HP-18).

Dick flew seaplanes in WW-II and was the first sinking of a U-Boat by a US
aircraft. (It is a great story. It and others can be found in the book
"10,000 Feet and Climbing - The Aviation Adventures of Richard E Schreder.)
The HP-21 was going to be an attempt to combine his love of soaring with his
love of "flying boats."

The PSU Soaring Club has what remains of the project listed in the "Trading
Post" section of http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder.

An article about the HP-21 appeared in "Soaring" many years ago. I have a
copy and will posted on the "Schreder Designs" web site when time is
available.

Wayne
HP-14 N990 "6F"
http://www.soaridaho.com/


"Morgans" wrote in message
...
OK, here's a question. Does a seaplane motoglider exist?

If someone were to make one, would it be eligible to be flown as a
motoglider, and therefore be able to have a pilot (without a medical) fly
it
legally as a motoglider?

And yes, I did Google, first. g
--
Jim in NC

OK, here's a question. Does a seaplane motoglider exist?

If someone were to make one, would it be eligible to be flown as a
motoglider, and therefore be able to have a pilot (without a medical) fly it
legally as a motoglider?

And yes, I did Google, first. g
--
Jim in NC

"Wayne Paul" wrote

An article about the HP-21 appeared in "Soaring" many years ago. I have a
copy and will posted on the "Schreder Designs" web site when time is
available.

Wayne

Thanks. When you do, give a shout back here, if you have the time?
--
Jim in NC

"John Ammeter" wrote in message
...
What's the defination of a motorglider?

There are some pretty strict definitions, as I recall, having to do with
weight to area, or span, and glide performance, IIRC. I'll try to see what
I can find.
--
Jim in NC

UltraJohn wrote:

I supposed you could built a 747 look alike (remember the post about the 747
plans?) and register it as a glider (with what about a 5 to 1 glide
ratio!). Now that would be interesting!


I bet it would have a LOT better glide ration than that! I seem to
remember a story about some airliner that ran out of fuel due to a mix
up with metric vs English units, I think they had a malfunctioning fuel
computer which made it necessary to do the calculations manually.
Anyway, if I remember right, it glided around 85 miles from an altitude
of 35,000 ft. If it landed at sea level, which I doubt, the glide ratio
was nearly 13 to 1.

--
Chris W

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give the gifts they want
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"Morgans" wrote

There are some pretty strict definitions, as I recall, having to do with
weight to area, or span, and glide performance, IIRC. I'll try to see
what
I can find.

After more than an hour of searching, I found the motor glider specs he
http://www.sonex-ltd.com/motorglider_definition.html

It could glide like a dog, but it has to carry no more than two, not exceed
1874 pounds, and the maximum weight to wing span squared can not exceed .62
lb. / ft squared.

So that means that at maximum weight, you would need a wingspan of about 55
feet.

Doable? I think so. For a seaplane, or amphibian, it would have to have
some type of pontoons or floats on the tips, or it would hit the tips, on
the slightest bit of rocking. Not a problem.

How about the rating needed? For a powered glider, a glider rating, with an
endorsement for self launch, I think, is all you need. What about launching
from water? More endorsements, or is there one for water to add to glider?
Would you have to have a single engine fixed wing land/seaplane?

One thing I can say, is that I have never seen _this_ question here, (or
anywhere) before! g
--
Jim in NC

So that means that at maximum weight, you would need a wingspan of about 55
feet.
--
Jim in NC


gee that'd be fun to dock ; (

"T o d d P a t t i s t" wrote in message
...
"Morgans" wrote:

After more than an hour of searching, I found the motor glider specs
he
http://www.sonex-ltd.com/motorglider_definition.html

It could glide like a dog, but it has to carry no more than two, not
exceed
1874 pounds, and the maximum weight to wing span squared can not exceed
..62
lb. / ft squared.

These limits were adopted to prevent people from registering
everything under the sun as a glider. :-) I've seen some
designs with removable wingtips, allegedly for hangaring
ease, but which made it far more like a typical airplane
than a glider if flown with the tips off. I have no idea if
they'd get the design actually registered as a glider.


T o d d P a t t i s t
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If my memory serves me correctly, the above requirement of wingspan ^2
divided by gross wt not to exceed 0.62 lbs is stated in the "Certification"
limitations. It has been argued that this requirement doesn't apply to
experimental air craft. If it did, "Space Ship One" would not be registered
with the FAA as a glider. On the other side of the coin, the Windrose meets
the requirement; however, you find cases where it has been registered as an
"airplane". Communications with the owners revealed that this was done to
avoid having to spend the time and money to get a glider rating.

Wayne
HP-14 N990 "6F"
http://www.soaridaho.com/