G'day Peter, On 6/4/08, Peter Stephenson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The last motor glider registered with the RAA crashed and killed the > owner-builder in the classic low and slow on base scenario that we gliding > instructors try to "immunise" are students against. His pylon engine was > retracted at the time. He was RAA trained and only had had three flights off > a winch with a gliding instructor who reported that he was not at solo > standard. He flew at 500 feet or less down a cross runway on which he > should have landed, most likely fixated on landing on the duty runway off > which he taken off on. :-( :-( :-( > > I sadly relate this tragedy to all my students in the hope that they become > flexible glider pilots. > > As a result of this accident, I have been told that RAA have refused to > accept gliders into their register. >
By 'gliders' do you mean pure gliders, touring motorgliders like the Dimonas, or aircraft with retractable engines? I can't find any mention of this policy on the RAA's website. Techically there is a statement in the ops manual that only CFI's can turn the engine off in flight - I'm not sure how they enforce this. I'm pretty sure I've seen advertisements for 'RAA approved' touring motorgliders in recent issues of their magazine. I guess their owners just suffer frequent engine failures? Personally I don't see why a qualified pilot (at the very least solo on gliders, pref C or better) should be prohibited. If I won a million dollars and could buy a motorglider, I'd much rather operate it under the RAA's rules then the GFA's. The RAA's structure would be (in my opinion) far more suitable then the GFA's. You don't need a club (but you can form one if you want). You don't need 200 hours and a 5 hour flight before you can be responsible for your own operations. Checkflights are 2 years apart, just like in GA. Finally, the RAA is $45 cheaper per year :) Cheers, Al
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