We were at 3,000 feet over central Florida when the engine stopped and the propeller froze neatly across the airplane's nose. In most aircraft the sudden silence would have sent my heart racing, but we had no cause for alarm. We were in a Super Ximango, an exquisite Brazilian motorglider and ...the ultimate aerial recreational vehicle. Powered...it is a delightful two-seat runabout that will allow you to buzz around at 110 knots for as long as five hours. With the engine shut down, it turns into a respectable sailplane... capable of providing endless hours of soaring pleasure under the right weather conditions.

I banked hard left and, sure enough, we felt a surge of lift.... We were a sailplane. All we heard was the whispering wind. I raised the nose to slow us down to just above stall speed. We were climbing at a steady 500 feet per minute with surges to 700...in no time we were at cloud base at 4500 feet.... I pointed the nose at the next likely cumulus and we roared off toward it.... We had taken our first step (soaring) cross country.

The Ximango's manners were impeccable in sailplane mode. Light stick forces, a reasonable roll rate, and notable stability made thermaling second nature and turned the flight into a relaxing joyride.

As I turned off the runway and retracted the barn door-size spoilers that had controlled our descent on final with great precision, I asked Kyrazis if we should taxi to the fuel pumps. He just laughed. I sheepishly realized that we had cavorted with the cu's all afternoon, yet we had used less than a gallon of fuel. If anyone complains to me about how boring flying has become, I won't tell them too get a life. I'll tell them to get a Super Ximango.

PILOT

In aviation, what looks right usually performs well - and the Ximango is no exception. It is an impressive-looking machine with its wide-track undercarriage, long clean engine cowling and elegant wings, somewhat like a Mustang fighter.

The Ximango is full of novel features, like all of Rene Fournier's designs. Special safety features are the very wide track undercarriage, the super-powerful airbrakes (spoilers), the fuel tanks in the wings for reduced hazard in a crash, the five-point harness for both pilots and - most important - the ample power to provide a more than adequate performance.

Top marks to Rene Fournier and the Brazilian team for producing such a lovely little motorglider.

The Rotax 912 is very neatly cowled with NACA low-drag ducts on either side of the nose....The cylinder heads of the 912 are liquid-cooled, doing away with the problems of over-heating in tropical weather and rapid cooling on descents.... Engine operation is super simple.

The cockpit is very roomy, well-upholstered and smartly finished... pleasantly cool in hot weather. The all-round view is superb thanks to the one piece fighter-style canopy....there is a large instrument panel with ample room for every conceivable instrument and navigation aid.

PRIVATE PILOT

In soaring mode, the Super Ximango equals or betters many popular training and recreational gliders. It frees the glider pilot from the tyranny of the tow-plane... and also allows recreational glider pilots to soar much further afield from home base with confidence because it practically eliminates the risk of outlanding and the time-consuming hassle of a retrieve. Are there thermals out there just beyond safe gliding range? Don't shut off the engine until you reach them. Have you run out of lift at the end of the day, far beyond gliding distance from your roost? Just fire up the engine and cruise on home.

The wings of this gorgeously sleek machine can be folded up at about the halfway point in the style of some carrier-based Navy aircraft....A cool trick in tight places is to taxi the Ximango with the wings folded. You may hop out of the cockpit momentarily to unfold the wings prior to entering the active runway or to fold them up before you taxi in.

We briefly transitioned into level flight and trued out at 110 kts. At a fuel burn of 4.5 gal/hr, the 24 gallons of fuel in two aluminum wing tanks would have taken us 500 nm in four and a half hours with a 30-minute reserve. In economy cruise, it can be stretched to 650 nm.

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