There is one in the UK also used for towing gliders and the various training aspects that other clubs use a Falke for. I had a ride in it and it was certainly nicer to fly than our Falke, and has effective airbrakes which a Falke (in my very limited experience) doesn't. However I'm 13" shorter than you so there whilst was no problem fitting in there was a problem seeing over the nose as I rounded out when landing.
As far as I can remember we did most of the flight gliding with no motor, including landing it. It was a good day so no problems gaining height so long as it was flown at the right speed and centered in the thermals. However we weren't really going anywhere in particular. That might have been somewhat harder.