Motorgliders and gliders in US...

Boy, if I were competing, I would look hard at buying
a motorglider and then learn how to remove and install
the engine correctly. It sure sounds like a win-win
to me. Two gliders for the price of one? Hmmm...I
guess I'd also want one with ballast so I could have
that option with the motor removed. I suppose it would
be little trouble to design a ballast tank to replace
the motor. Hey Apis, are you listening? How about
putting that in your design? As far as competing goes,
a glider contest is about gliding. If one can tell
the thing has a motor at any part of the soaring performance,
it isn't a glider. As far as self-launching, or whether
restarts are scored as landouts or worse, I've noticed
some pilots avoid the whole question by flying as a
pure glider for the whole flight, including getting
a tow up, just to avoid this ambiguity. But there
are clearly other nuances and the discussion has been
awesome, enlightening, and passionately argued (thanks
JJ and Eric and Judy, among others). Mark Boyd

I have been reading all of the posts on this topic, I have looked at
traces of motor gliders launching and in the class in which I compete
the "motor gliders" are gentlemen who do not take advantage of their
launching status. I feel they do have an advantage "in flight".

I am not sure, for me anyway, that it is worth all of the discussion.
I think the current rules are clear and they should be followed. If
you want to do something else, get a waiver from the contest chairman.
Again, all of the people who fly with me seem to be gentlemen and if
they acted unseemly I think I would tell them so......haven't had to
do that.
Gary Kemp NK


Boy, if I were competing, I would look hard at buying
a motorglider and then learn how to remove and install
the engine correctly. It sure sounds like a win-win
to me. Two gliders for the price of one? Hmmm...I
guess I'd also want one with ballast so I could have
that option with the motor removed. I suppose it would
be little trouble to design a ballast tank to replace
the motor. Hey Apis, are you listening? How about
putting that in your design? As far as competing goes,
a glider contest is about gliding. If one can tell
the thing has a motor at any part of the soaring performance,
it isn't a glider. As far as self-launching, or whether
restarts are scored as landouts or worse, I've noticed
some pilots avoid the whole question by flying as a
pure glider for the whole flight, including getting
a tow up, just to avoid this ambiguity. But there
are clearly other nuances and the discussion has been
awesome, enlightening, and passionately argued (thanks
JJ and Eric and Judy, among others). Mark Boyd