Im planning to start my lessons next month! I cant wait!

Rad! You must be from the "bitchen" era. If not you're getting grandfathered in 😎👍

Where are you?

I would love to learn to fly powered sailplanes for self launch and thermal flying. I was an advanced rated paraglider pilot some years ago, but I'd like to take a step up to sailplanes--without the need for a tow all the time. I'm assuming sailplanes are just a wee bit safer than paragliders. 🙂 I'll never forget my highest/longest thermal flight on a mountain launched competition paraglider. One of the most serene, intoxicating moments of my life. Nothing like being able to stay way up there with the world literally below your feet for hours using only the power of updrafts. Hearing that beeping, telling you you're going up, and cranking the glider around in a circle pattern to take advantage of the thermal. Wow. Fun, fun.

About €1900 for me.

you should check out the Badlands single seat. No license required at all and the kit starts at 7000

Nunya Bizness Badlands (w/o engine) starts at 11K now according to their website ☹️

@@armandutan5901 Yes it does...Damn...Still a great way to get your toes wet wouldnt you agree.

Nunya Bizness pilot license is cost prohibitive on my side of the pond and even sport license required medical to get approval. At least our EAA sat under the guidance of the Airforce.

@@armandutan5901 That sucks, I have been taking lessons for 6 months now and I would love this to practice in around the farm. Good luck flying sir I love it and wouldnt trade for anything

The "glider" he mentioned for IFR is the *Virus SW* model, which is the "short wing" model that can be fitted with full bore "glass cockpit", has shorter wings so it doesn't glide as well as the other models. The huge advantage of the shorter wings (and other minor changes) is much higher speed (Vne == 302kph; 75% power cruise == 274kph) and much less impact on the structure (and pilot/passenger) from turbulence. Also, if you were listening carefully he said IFR for purposes like climbing or descending through a layer of clouds ... and most definitely *NOT* for flying into thunderstorms! As your message implies, you know that all these are too lightweight to fly through the kind of shear and turbulence found in thunderstorms. Probably 99% of GA airplanes aren't safe to fly through thunderstorms. If you listen carefully to what he said again, you'll hear him say all this. But it does go by fast when he's talking, so listening carefully is a good idea. The *Virus SW* is best for everyday flying and cross-country, where it gets about 35~70mpg fuel economy flying: - 117kts == 135mph == 217kph (slowest sensible cruise speed) - 125kts == 144mph == 232kph (very slow cruise speed) - 135kts == 155mph == 250kph (slow cruise speed) - 145kts == 167mph == 268kph (cruise speed @ ~70% power) - 150kts == 173mph == 278kph (cruise speed @ ~80% power) - 153kts == 176mph == 283kph (fast cruise speed) - 163kts == 188mph == 302kph (absolute maximum speed, hence not a safe cruise speed) The *Virus SW* can fly much slower than 117kts (since stall speed is about 40kts), but slowing down below 117kts actually starts to gradually get worse fuel economy, so there is little reason to cruise slower than 117kts (except to reduce the impact of bad turbulence). Average fuel economy at 600kg MTOW (maximum takeoff weight) - 17.73kpl == 41.70mpg @ 117kts - 15.72kpl == 36.98mpg @ 153kts Note that nose-wheel airplanes have somewhat lower performance and lower fuel economy because the drag of the nose-wheel assembly is significantly more than the tail-wheel assembly. The numbers above are for the default tail-wheel configuration (which is also a bit cheaper). If you want to fly a small airplane between California Hawaii without ferry tanks, the *Virus SW* with *912iS* is the only airplane I know that can do that (though you need to pay extra for the 300 liter in-wing fuel tank option). This gives an indication of how streamlined and fuel efficient these pipistrel airplanes are.

@@maxbootstrap7397 How come it doesnt glide well? Its a Pipistrel, it is glider, its has a glide ratio of 30/1 and you can use extended wings for better thermaling and ridge soaring. Its not as good as a 52/1 glider but is quite impressive tho.

@@itinensanzen : 17:1 glide ratio for the SW. Yes, other pipistrel models with longer wings have better glide ratios, but the Virus SW is more like 17:1 (tail-wheel) or 15:1 (nose-wheel). 17:1 is a very good glide ratio for an airplane that can fly as fast as 275kph to 300kph (Vne), but it simply isn't the same as the versions with longer wings ... for obvious reasons.

I spoke to this man yesterday. He told me 10 hours plus checkride since I have sport ticket

At the same time in Germany you're allowed to do your solo in a glider at the age of 14, which makes no sense to me. I've witnessed a mid air collision and a winch accident on different occations in which children were involved who were flying solo. Thank heavens they werent fatal! I couldnt even touch my nose and rub my tummy at the same time when I was 14 for gods sake...

Does it matter whether the airplane or pilot was at fault? Or they don't care?

Electric alpha is sold exclusively to flight school for basic training so yes must be a plane not a student fault lol

Um have you seen how many Cessna 172's & 150's have crashed in a single year in say Virginia ???? A lot more than two . Each plane each crash needs to be looked at separately not lumped together. I'd want to see the report before blaming any aircraft ..... no mater how many went down.

Same in the UK. Here in New Zealand you need a declaration from a medical professional that they don't know any reason you shouldn't fly, with directions to them that if you're allowed to drive then you're ok to fly gliders.

Alpha Electro was about $125,000 US$, a couple years back, last I checked!

You feather it. The prop blade leading or trailing edge faces the direction of travel reducing drag

Steve Reyes An undriven feathered propeller. Stick your hand out of your car window while on the highway. Hold it flat against the wind and then sideways. Which creates more drag?

I couldn't see it at first either, it's not just stopping it's turning towards the wind for less drag. I wish they could've explained that part better and shown it closer

@@andrewlangley9507 it wasn't clearly explained in the video, thanks

because its nit giving you another direction of

Good question.

@@ianjamesii7044 think they start at about $95,000. The VIRUS long wing starts at $129,000 and goes up from there.

gosh i wish i had $129k extra just for fun money! these look super fun. wonder if they have a used market since pipistrel is so new. the naming is unfortunate yet funny

Pure gliders go from £5000 to £350,000, your best bet is to join a club and fly club aircraft, it’s a whole lot cheaper

It depends. You can get an TMG for less than 20k but an Motorglider with retractabal engine coasts upwards of 60k

Rand vollmer in tampa Florida. Www. Pipistrel. Com

You should join a club. Local clubs can be found all across europe and north america, and you can fly with club gliders to get experience. It's also better to not have an up-front cost in the tens or hundreds of thousands just to try out a hobby.

You can find older motor gliders for around 20k which is not bad at all. Can always finance too.

Rent them until you can buy.

none. motorized just give you the option

Well if you have an engine failure in a motor glider you both have the glide ratio and training to maybe get to an airport but other than that it's no different

with the better glide ratio and slower decent I would think your chances are better to survive with a glider. yahoo's with less training and inflated confidence might ruin my theory tho

Having a wider glide radius...more than double a cessna 172, should mean that you have a LOT more options for a safe landing than regular single engine planes, so I really didn't understand the replies except jesse's. By default the stats should be safer, ...I was just curious whether there were other factors, like weaker airframe, or more task distractions, that may counter the advantages of a wider glide radius. Remember your grade school arithmetic: the surface area of a circle is radius squared ....surface area increases exponentially for every linear increment of radius...that means if you double the glide radius, you have *four* times the square miles around you from which you can look for a safe place to land.

@@iamf6641 "none" what, you don't have the stats? Then why even bother to respond if you don't know? Your reply makes no sense. Having the option to live is a huge option, not something that is minimally "just".

Its considerd TMG(touring motor glider) but jes the sinus is defnitifly close to an light sport aircraft

Nope! Just the License to fly them!

Ben,O BaldR Steve Martin

@@NatachaP bingo

New*

There are many gliders in the Ultralite category ..... It's where they got started was as Gliders that people added motors to. It helps to learn the History of Flight .

1silvervespa depends what country you’re from

Land - "With The Flow of Traffic" - Not "Against it!"

Glider pilots have been flying all over the world under these rules for at least 70 years. When was the last time that happened?

Motor glider. Turn engine off at 15000 feet and its a true glider

Pure gliders are more fun to fly in my opinion

@@Alex-dr6sv - Sure - but - then you need a Winch Operator, Car Tow, or Plane Tow, to "Launch" you!" Motor Gliders do not require those "Other Elements" to be involved!

@@robertweekley5926 the motor has its own problems like additional maintenance, additional qualifications needed and I believe the solo age goes from 14 to 17 which affects younger pilots

@@Alex-dr6sv - OK! Well, for me, I was 17 before getting a "Real Job", and parents were not well off, plus, nearest gliding was 80 miles away! So, that 3 year "Advantage" was of no difference!