The true sailplane pilots have to have mastery of thermal conditions and local experience plus a heaping of patience.
Those long thin wings in turbulence could be a blessing or a curse, I would imagine.
What about a powered sailplane?
http://www.aeros.com.ua/structure/al/index_en.php
Other slower (but powered) aircraft you might be interested in are:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slepcev_Storch
(almost VTOL in a strong headwind)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_DA20 or
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_DA40
(different engines. one of those flew low overhead recently and I could barely hear it)