gordy just read your comments on soaring digest about electric gliders are not the real thing, etc. good Luddite prose. can never tell if your serious or just jerking the chain. our club has switched totally to electric sailplanes and now have 12 to 14 guys every other weekend contest. some of our flyers graduated from the park flyers stuff to easy gliders, ascents, and now are moving up. We had no growth with winch flying. guys were selling their equipment. Planes such as chrysalis, wind dancers, and Aspires fly well for our skill level and are just as "real: as motor less. my mako, genie, and grand esteem sit in the basement unless i am slope racing them. they are lonely. the limits on engine run is great and will minimize the engine / hardware wars. when these devices are made more public and advertised i would advocate using them. I have not seen one ad or review of them. i thought they were still in the R&D stage. we can than fairly shut off at 500 feet or whatever. it is then truly a sailplane contest. i agree on that limiter. removes the eye sight limitations of old duffers such as myself.. the argument about "powering back up is not real flying", where is the risk etc. in a contest it would be a zero. if i get in trouble way out or downwind and i have a power backup, i get to fly again and not have to explain to the boss why i need a new plane. I think pride is a good motivator is getting the most out of an airplane. My son is a navy pilot, and they spend hours on simulators as well as cockpit time. does simulators make his experience less real? the real advantage for me is getting more flights in during the weekdays or practicing spot landings a lot of times. it is easier to work on different skill sets efficiently why waste time walking for the tow line. i can also fly at a small park which is only 20 minutes away which doesn't have the room for a winch.verses driving an hour to our larger field. cost of gas prohibits that. Rather save my money for an electric supra. that would be the worlds heaviest supra i believe. if electric sailplanes get more pilots in our narrow niche than i am for it. look what dlg has done for soaring.70- 80 flyers at polecat! The Easy Glider is another plane that brings in fresh blood. we slope them all the time. guys than go to combat wngs. i loved my standard shift MG, but try finding one today. times change. With fixed engine runs, i see no difference in the flying skills needed, no matter what semantics you use such as gliders or sailplanes.. bill snow
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