A New Licence!

My motor glider pilot's licence, MGPL came in a letter a few days ago! Shame I don't have time to travel to Turku too often to fly these planes. If there were some Fournier's in Malmi I'm sure I'd rather fly those than the ultralights.

Cruising over the coastal islands of Turku. Memories...

Motor Gliding

Last week's friday was a day off from school so I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and finally take the necessary flying lessons to get a motor glider pilot's licence. I travelled to Turku airport where Turku Flying Club has two motor gliders. On saturday we flew one school flight with the flight instructor I booked, and on sunday morning I practised flying in the traffic circuit with the instructor. Right after that I had my check ride which went really well and after returning to the ground I found out that my instructor had already made the necessary arrangements for me to go solo. So one quick chat and a handshake later I climbed back to the cockpit and started the engine. I went flying over the coastal islands and it was totally fantastic!

The Fournier RF-5 at Jämi airfield, right after "Tuulia Team's" aerobatics show

The plane I flew was the Fournier RF-5, nicknamed "Tuulia II" in Finland. It is a very beautiful and elegant airplane with a certain vintage feel to it. A true gentleman's aircraft. Here's some technical information:

A simple and comfortable cockpit. Even an articificial horizon is present..!

General

Seats: 2
Lenght: 7,80m
Wingspan: 13.74m
Empty Weight: 420kg
Useful Load: 230kg
Maximum Take-off Weight: 650kg
Engine: 1x Limbach 1700E, 63hp

Performance

Vcruise: 175km/h
Vno: 210km/h
Vne: 250km/h
Vs: 75km/h
Range: 760km
Service Ceiling: 16400ft

Rate of Climb: 590ft/min
L/D Ratio: 22:1