I just did my training with Rand. I have almost 18 hrs in that plane and it’s a joy to fly. Advantages: No medical, for 2 seats with the Sinus Max you have useful load of over 580 lbs. try that in most other 2 seat LSA. 1AV shown here is a regular Sinus so Max gross is 1202 I believe vs 1320 for the MAX I’m a big guy and I fit comfortably. Fuel economy is crazy, it will sip at cruise only 2.5 gph and on a good tailwind day with 24 gallon you can cruise 900 miles. So with 10 gallons and my wife we can do nice weekend flights. Disadvantages: it’s a 2 seater cost is a factor, but your buying new. I would and likely will equip mine with a single Dynon Rand took this on the Caribbean rally and it’s an amazing story. Over 3000 miles and best fuel economy. It’s a very forgiving airplane and being able to shut down and stay up for an hour or more on a good thermal day with its 27:1 glide ratio beats most training gliders. You will boost your confidence shutting the engine off 10 miles from the field and landing. But it’s nice to know the Rotax is reliable for a restart.
No aircraft (not even helicopters) drop like a rock when the engine turns off, but it's sure nice that in a motor glider you can go a lot further, which gives you a lot more room to find a safe place to land. A normal aircraft goes a mile and a half to two miles per every 1000 feet of drop, this one can go four or more miles, if you lose the engine at 10,000 feet you have about 40 miles to find a place to land vs 15 or 20 miles in a normal plane. And with a glider license, you probably have a lot more experience landing without the engine than a normal pilot (although normal pilots do get training and practice landing without engines as well). Also, motor gliders often have insane ranges.
Mike, I took my "discovery flight" with Rand Vollmer at Sun 'N Fun this year in that same plane. What a thrill for this 68 YO first timer. Powered or in glider mode, it was very easy to fly and you barely move the controls to direct the aircraft. I'm glad you had the opportunity to fly with Rand. He's a great guy.
You talk about adding on a glider rating to a regular or sport pilot license. But, in another video I learned that you can get a glider (or motor glider) license, by itself, in as little as 10 hours. Plus, unlike the light sports license, the motor glider can be flown at night; is not limited to 10K ft altitude; and can be flown cross-country...you don't have to land at the same airport from which you took off. And, with cruising speeds for some Pipistrals being up to 120 knots (138 mph) this a real plane, not a toy or a hang-glider! Now, if only there were some used ones around so the price can come down.
For anyone who is curious about how high it can fly: its service ceiling 8,800 m or 28,900 ft. And that's pretty good for something that has "glider" in its name.
No, gliders have almost an unlimited ceiling, the altitude record for gliders is 76,000 ft. Rate of climb gliding can be over 2,000ft minute. A model remote control glider had launched on a ridge using Ridge lift flying in a tight circle with dynamic doaring set a world record of over 500mph. www.google.com/search?q=model+glider+speed+revord.&oq=model+glider+speed+revord.&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.8951j0j4&client=ms-android-verizon&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
Reading the POH says can adjust the prop to feather after engine is shut off that's nice option. The only drawback is finding a hanger big enough for the long wings at airports always having to watch out for those big wings when taxing around an airport. Glider ports generally have lot more room less aircraft. The good thing about this is if you get a glider CFI who is also a power plane CFI all those hours you train with them counts toward power plane also. They need to be a standard CFI not a light sport CFI.
Mike, you missed the multi-function aspect of this aircraft. If you swap out the wing tips (Virus, or Sinus flex), you pick up an extra 4-5 knots of speed, and, drop 4-5 points of glide, so, it handles a little closer to standard LSA craft. The wing tips swap out in under 5 minutes. Roll rate increases, handling 'improves' a little, yet, there is still glide capability. That air brake is an awesome tool for landing on your spot- I wish other aircraft offered them. The Sinus Flex is perhaps the best value in the LSA space today- true 2 seater, long range, simple instrumentation, great handling... It's what I would get to address all of my desires for flight.
Where is the fuel tank? How do you check the oil during a pre-flight? Is there any room for a couple of bags behind the seats? If you fly across country with this, do you have to file a flight plan?
If it's a great glider I'm a little surprised it doesn't achieve greater max range. It says glide ratio 1:27 which is 3x better than a cessna. They also say it uses less than 10L per hour at 200km/h cruise which with a 100L tank is 2000km range. So they are allowing for significant headwind and reserve I guess. So if you keep it a bit under 200km/h I guess you can go above 2000km in neutral wind. And if you swap the copilot for a 100L bladder it will go 4000km. That's straight across the atlantic stuff. That's a pretty good bird for the price. Might be my new favorite. It's not the prettiest nor fastest but not bad overall. I'll look for a fraction of this bad boy.
Hi Mike, Very cool video for my Sunday morning 🤟. I guess you didn’t want to say much more about MPGs or range, but 30 sounded interesting. So you get all the gauges you need with the $200 ADSP dongle and the iPad? Where does that plug in, BTW. Can you High-mile it by gliding? Is a glider certification easier? Thanks 🙏🏻
Being a glider hybrid, I would assume the gauge below the airspeed indicator is a vertical speed indicator? I flew in a glider once and found out how you can locate thermals to fly from Arizona to an adjacent state, without an engine.
Stunning motor-glider, great features too, very enjoyable and useful machine I'd have thought. The only downside seemed to be the glare/reflection off of the panel and iPad, but that maybe being made worse by the doors being open? Thanks for sharing 👍😊
Mike, have you heard that UBER Elevate and Pipistrel have begun a joint venture for electric VTOL vehicles so short hops around traffic congestion can be accomplished. Just so ya know...
Hello Mike, Great video as always! I’m thinking about getting one of these and want to offset the cost by aerial photography. With so many people using drones nowadays is there much of a market for plane aerial photography? I am thinking of the LSA version so ferrying people/stuff or sightseeing is out of the question. Any other ideas to offset the costs‽
Greetings from a proud owner. Nice presentation. BTW I'm 6'6... IMHO nothing for someone who's looking for a Cessna. This plane makes sense if you look for a long range plane and if you want to glide. For that the price is unbeatable. Look up for Stemme S6 (or S10 or S12).
@@AdalaAkeri I'm exactly 200cm tall. And this is definitely on the edge. I have a slimmer seat cushion and I had to make a modifications on the dashboard for me knees. There is a chance it will fit but you should definitely check in the plane on your own. If you look for such a combination (long range + glider) you will not find something better. Visit me in Germany :-)
No. It did not exist. I was looking for it too. 2.5 GPH was all that I could get on fuel consumption. But not how it relates to distance covered and range. 900 miles was mentioned. But I am not sure if it is with the 24 gallon tank or not.
@@izzyplusplusplus1004 - no, a private glider pilot license is "higher" than sport pilot. Though the topic of a private glider pilot transitioning to LSA powered fixed wing will baffle many CFI's and DPE's.
@@rcbif101 I'm neither of those, and it's baffling me too. However, I can see how a skill level for a glider rating would surpass the needs of your average LSA pilot.
We say Tom-ato and you say To-mato. For some reason American English ends on the first vowel of a syllable where the Queens English ends on the consonant. You need to upgrade your language pack then it would read as Sin-us and not Si-nus. English has rules and resistance is futile.... :)
English has many dialects..... Each are very different. An American, An Englashman, An Australian, and An Irishman, all walk into a bar.........nope they still can't understand each other. Hahaha
The concept is really terrific except that tail looks pretty fragile and then over time we're going to have some structural failures on that tail hate to think what this thing cost keep up the good work you're amazing
ANY BODY notice the very dusty looking electrical or what ever it was, center dash board. Either way it sure dose not look like it is used. That can be good if you do not need to keep it in tune or in a good working state by fiddling with anything as far as I am concerned.
Well with a little shorter wings namely model virus was good enough for around the world: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fue2e8fIEE0.html
Not a fan of iPads as primary displays. They overheat and crash....usually just when you need them. Also, this guy is stuck with that size hole in his panel. What happens 5 years from now when Foreflight won't work on your current iPad and you need a new one? Apple keeps changing the sizes LOL. Plus...$160K!?! For an LSA with no avionics? Nope.
@@izzyplusplusplus1004 I owned one in Germany for 8 years... paid 8k for it... and your point is? I'm just saying, there are much more practical, useful options in planes ....as a trainer? Joy ride Sunday plane? Maybe...anything else? Nope.
@@Bigsky1991 Listen: if you really just HAVE to tp your neighbor from virtual silence on approach, this is an excellent option. Total niche market okay? Purpose built tp bomber. Bonus points if your disliked neighbor is on the windward side of a ridgeline.
