The prudent answer is YES and absolutely !
At the same time you pick up a screwdriver or wrench and get ready to perform some work on your trusty Rotax engine, be it a 2 or 4 stroke, you should also be reaching for your engine manual. Let’s face it a manual is as important as your wrench. Your neighbor is not a walking Wikipedia and won’t always provide the correct advice or at least perhaps not in correct sequence.
Has your Mechanic just cost you $10K and the Sale of your Aircraft?
Written by Rotax OwnerOver the last several years I have seen many logbook entries from mechanics, some good, some bad and some just downright ugly. In the last several weeks I have been involved with a buyer looking for a used Flight Design CT ($70K - $90K). This has given me a unique opportunity to really look at logbook entries and documentation (or the lack of it) and see just how that might affect the ultimate selling price of the aircraft itself. Surprisingly, many poor entries have also come from A&P’s and not only RLSM-A’s from the logbook entries I have seen. These poor logbook entries and lack of documentation will cost the owner dearly when it comes time to sell. From what I have seen lately, it’s not hard to lose $5K-$10K in value due to lack of documentation. These are legal records and need to be treated as such. This is one of the only legal ways you can show either someone did something to your plane or did not. As important, log books showing compliance to not only the aircraft manufactures Service Bulletins for the airframe but also for its Rotax engine greatly increases the Aircrafts total value!
Is my hangar door just waiting for me to be complacent?
Written by Rotax Owner(Yes it is!)
Another recent incident has prompted me to throw this out for review.
Just wanted to touch bases with everyone concerning our hangar doors. Over the last couple of years too many people have shut their hangar doors on their plane. It is usually the tail and a few wings. That means we are leaving our planes way too close to the door edge whether it be on the inside, but usually these incidents happen when the plane is on the outside of the door.
How do you know which one to adjust?
The carburetor sync on a 2 stroke or 4 stroke ROTAX Engine is one of the most important functions to keep up with for the health of your engine.
Let’s take a look at performing a carb sync on a 912 series engine. The carb sync is nothing to be afraid of and with a few times at bat, performing this function will become fairly easy. First, why is it so important? The carb sync should be done anytime the carbs or throttle cables are removed or adjusted and at the 100 hour or Annual Condition Inspections. The reason for this is cables stretch, cable hysteresis (cable stickiness), pulley system wear, cables slip and because parts wear and end up with more tolerances. The carbs are almost always out of sync at each 100 hours or the Annual. If you did a carb sync back at the last inspection then they may not be out of sync much, but they will in most cases be out at least a bit. The sync instrument should also be used to set the idle sync if you change idle settings. Let’s start off with thinking of the engine as two engines, a left side and a right side. Two carbs controlling different sides of the engine. You don’t want one side trying to operate at 5000 rpm while the other side is trying to operate at 5100 rpm. These opposing rpms will cause excessive stress and wear on your engine over time and possible damage. You say there is a balance tube in between to help balance them out. The operative word in that sentence is “help”. The balance tube can correct and help with small differences between the two carbs, but it is not a cure all and it is there to help make the system run a little smoother than if there was no connection or correlation between the two carbs...
Related E-Learning Videos:
Bing 54 Carburetor Rebuild - 2 Stroke
Carburetor Needle Position Adjustment
Related Product Review Video:
This happened to me
Taking off from a somewhat short grass strip in northern Wisconsin, two up in my Kitfox, we had just cleared the tree line when my 582 suddenly started to lose power. The only emergency item to try to address this situation is to turn on the Facet fuel pump. Did that and the engine came back to life. Flew home with the Facet pump on all the way. No further problem. Trouble shot the fuel system, filters, lines, carbs, rebuilt the pulse pump, etc. Flew again and encountered the same problem.
I found I could replicate the problem with a full power climb. I could climb for approx 5-7 seconds and then see the EGT's climb about 150 degrees and then fall off as the engine started to die. (This with the Facet fuel pump OFF). With the fuel pump ON, no problem.
Related Videos:
Bing 54 Carburetor Rebuild - 2 Stroke
Related Technical Articles:
As a recent convert from GA flying, I did a lot of research before eventually deciding to purchase a Tecnam P92 Echo Super with a rotax 912ULS (100hp). One peculiarity of the Tecnam is that it has a tank in each wing, with surplus fuel returned to the left tank, and during my familiarisation training I had been warned that it was possible when flying with full tanks that fuel could be pumped overboard via the left tank overflow.
This could be devastating to your fuel calculations on a long trip. The Tecnam is fitted with a valve for each tank on the relevant door frame, so it is a simple matter to turn off the right tank during post takeoff checks, so that all fuel is drawn from the left until the level is reduced enough to prevent losing fuel overboard.
Related Video: Checking fuel pressure 912, Carburetor Synchronization
Related Technical Articles: Carburetor troubleshooting
Waterless or 50/50?
Picking a coolant for some can put you on that proverbial fence line and you’re just not sure which way to fall. You need your cooling fluid to prevent high pressure and air or vapor within the system. You need it to transfer heat away from the engine, but it also helps distribute temps more evenly too. Your choices for the most part are a waterless coolant or a mix like 50/50. The waterless coolant most often talked about is Evans NPG (NPG = non-aqueous propylene glycol) waterless coolant (Rotax recommended). Evans NPG is basically non toxic, non-corrosive and can operate at zero pressure. Its boiling point at zero pressure is 375F and the freeze point is -40F and was originally developed with the race car in mind.
Related Technical Article: 912/914 Cooling
It was one of those wonderful summer evenings you wished would last forever. The air was dead smooth and cooling as the sun moved towards the horizon and not a cloud could be found in the sky. My student and I had done our pre-flight walk around including topping up the fuel tanks in readiness for our one hour training flight. On my way to the airport I had hoped that the 25 gallon portable fuel tank we used to fill our aircraft would have enough fuel in it for our evening training flight. I was relieved to see that one of the other instructors had already filled that tank with a fresh batch of fuel/oil pre-mix as required for our Rotax 503 powered Aircraft. In this case this engine was a pre-mix model with no metering oil injection pump to do that job for you automatically.
Engine Stumbles on Takeoff!
In my many years of flying I always like to think I’m prepared for a pilots worst nightmare, engine failure on take-off. Until it happens to you, one never knows just how prepared you really are! In this particular case, the engine came back and the pilot made a successful landing, but that momentary sputter really got his heart beating. The real question was, why did the engine stumble, then come back to life?
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Let’s talk about the tension on your muffler exhaust springs. Too little?---Too much? Although there several types of exhaust and muffler setups out there, I’ll limit this article to the most common and that is where the exhaust spring holds the exhaust male outlet pipe into the female socket on top of the Rotax stock muffler. If you don’t have a stock Rotax muffler, but do use springs, then this article will still have significance for you.
What happens if there is not enough tension on our exhaust springs? The muffler will have excessive vibration and pulsation from the exhaust and cause the exhaust tube to hammer in its female socket. This will cause cracks, broken out pieces and the chaffing will eat away the edges of the exhaust pipe and socket and too little tension will cause hot exhaust gas leaks that might impinge on your hoses or wiring.
