Motorglider

[lowlycfi]

Re §61.5 does a motorglider fall into the glider category? What about §1.1 with regard to aircraft class?

 

[nosehair]

Gliders

Yes, a motorglider is still a glider. It's not spelled out in FAR 61, but, as best as I can remember, you get a launch rating, ie. aircraft tow, or ramp-launch(Wilbur & Orville style), or self-launch(motorglider) by demonstrating that particular launch(or launches) on your checkride.

 

[Lead Sled]

Excuse me for a minute whilst I put on my CFI-G hat...

Here in the States, all of the motorgliders are certified as gliders. (However, there are a couple of "ultralight" designs that are getting ready to go into production.) Because they are certified as Gliders, you need to have at least a student license with the proper endorsement or a PPL or higher with a "Glider" rating.

There was a time when the FAA gave out restricted ratings to glider pilots such as "Aero-Tow Only" if they had not demonstrated winch or auto tows during their checkride. Nowadays, all licenses read "Glider" and you need to have a CFI-G logbook endorsement for what ever type of launch your using - Aero Tow, Auto / Winch, or Self-launching.

The regulations for flying gliders (all gliders, even motorgliders) are different that those for airplanes. Since motorgliders are gliders, you would only need to be 14 to solo one and 16 to get your PPL. That even applies to the awesome looking, high performance (200 knot), fully IFR capable, turbojet-powered Caproni A-21SJ and you wouldn't need a medical certificate to fly the thing either.

Can a pilot with just an PPL or higher in airplanes jump in a motorglider and fly off into the sunset - after all, some like the Grob-109 look very much like their airplane cousins? No. They are certified gliders and you need to have the glider rating. The flight time is logged differently as well - in the "Total Flight Time" and "Glider" columns of your logbook. Also, you wouldn't log the time as "taildragger" either - it's a glider not an airplane. That doesn't mean that if you were flying, for example, a Grob 109, that you wouldn't want to keep track of the "glider taildragger" time somewhere - insurance underwriters would look favorably at that experience when you showed up on thier doorstep wanting to buy insurance for your new Champ.

There are also some interesting new ultralight motorgliders that fall under Part 109 or the Ultralight regs, you could fly these without a pilot or medical certificate. However, the time is not loggable and cannot be used toward any rating or certificate.

Lead Sled

 

[lowlycfi]

Thanks for the answers. I was teaching the chief of maintenance at our school how to fly and turns out he can't get a medical certificate. He's really interested in gliders and has access to a motorglider. He's also kicking the ultralight idea around. Thanks again for the insight.

 

[AxisVDP]

Since motorgliders are gliders, you would only need to be 14 to solo one and 16 to get your PPL. That even applies to the awesome looking, high performance (200 knot), fully IFR capable, turbojet-powered Caproni A-21SJ and you wouldn't need a medical certificate to fly the thing either.
Lead Sled

Wow. How the hell is that thing a glider? It has two jet engines, retractable gear, and side-by-side seating. And on top of that I just saw a picture of one carrying pods...

http://www.machdiamonds.com/caproni.html

 

[Lead Sled]

Wow. How the hell is that thing a glider? It has two jet engines, retractable gear, and side-by-side seating.

Yeah, I know. Pretty cool eh? Your link dealt with the "-22" which was a training AIRPLANE not the motorglider. (But it did show one picture of the motorglider.)

There are some other piston-powered motorgliders that are also fully IFR equipped and will run circles around many light 2-seaters. No medicals and you can solo them at 14. Go figure.

 

[rubberducky]

...Grob-109 look very much like their airplane cousins? No. They are certified gliders and you need to have the glider rating. The flight time is logged differently as well - in the "Total Flight Time" and "Glider" columns of your logbook. Also, you wouldn't log the time as "taildragger" either - it's a glider not an airplane. That doesn't mean that if you were flying, for example, a Grob 109, that you wouldn't want to keep track of the "glider taildragger" time somewhere - insurance underwriters would look favorably at that experience when you showed up on thier doorstep wanting to buy insurance for your new Champ.

Excellent explanation. The insurance companies(at least the ones I dealt with), say "if its not certified as an airplane then we don't count it as tailwheel time".

Good advice though.