Pipistrel Virus SW experimental motorglider?
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 5:37 pm
I just got off the phone with a distributor for the Pipistrel Virus SW 100 (https://www.pipistrel-usa.com/virus-sw/) who said that most people who buy them register them as experimental motorgliders (non-LSA) which doesn't require a class 3 medical and which apparently, unlike non-experimental motorgliders, doesn't have the same wing loading requirements. Is this true? Can a Pipistrel Virus SW 100 be flown by a person with a PPL with glider rating without a medical even though it has pretty short wings if it is registered as experimental non-LSA?
The Virus SW isn't normally a motorglider (the Sinus is) but is it true that you can just up and register it as an experimental glider regardless of wingspan as long as it passes the sniff test for a DAR (if it drops like a rock when power is off I doubt it would pass but the Virus even the short wing version has an impressive glide ratio of 17:1)? Unlike standard category gliders, I believe there is no wing loading formula that goes into what makes something an experimental motorglider.
The Virus SW isn't normally a motorglider (the Sinus is) but is it true that you can just up and register it as an experimental glider regardless of wingspan as long as it passes the sniff test for a DAR (if it drops like a rock when power is off I doubt it would pass but the Virus even the short wing version has an impressive glide ratio of 17:1)? Unlike standard category gliders, I believe there is no wing loading formula that goes into what makes something an experimental motorglider.