Use of Engines
Although most gliders do not have engines, there are a few that do. (see Motor glider). The manufacturers of high-performance gliders often list an optional engine with a retractable propeller that can be used to sustain flight, if required; these are known as 'self-sustaining' gliders. Some have enough thrust to launch themselves before the engine is retracted and are known as 'self-launching' gliders. There are also 'touring motor gliders' which can self launch and switch off the engine in flight without retracting their propellers.
Read more about this topic: Glider (sailplane)
Famous quotes containing the word engines:
“America is like one of those old-fashioned six-cylinder truck engines that can be missing two sparkplugs and have a broken flywheel and have a crankshaft that’s 5000 millimeters off fitting properly, and two bad ball-bearings, and still runs. We’re in that kind of situation. We can have substantial parts of the population committing suicide, and still run and look fairly good.”
—Thomas McGuane (b. 1939)