Kyle Communications

None..I have farm insurance for public liability also on all the farm equipment and the hangar and the shed...will tell you later this year when I get the house build finished..but mine is about 2k per year now

The instructor was from my airfield well known and the student was from the Sunshine coast. The aircraft was a C150 from Sunshine Coast Aero Club. Both died on impact. No details yet that we know of other than that

This is why you will see a lot of Microair installs have a external intercom installed 🙂

Why not one of these as the generator driver. I am sure further development could solve a lot of the issues

Well the oil tank just cant be placed anywhere there is a dimensional area it is supposed to sit in behind or at the side of the engine. its height dimension

You dont want the engine running too cool either..certainly not below 90degC on the oil..you have to burn off the acidic crap from the oil

A lot depends on your prop and setup. No one really looks at hp its the RPM. 5800 max for max for 5 mins then you can run 5500 rpm or less all day long. Most cruise somewhere between 5000 and 5200 rpm. at 5000 rpm I use 15ltr/hr obviously if your going to run the rpm up around 5400 you are going to be using 18 or so ltrs/hr Most of the yanks I know regularly cruise at 5400 to 5500 they like to push their engines. many guys there have 1000 hrs plus The gearbox needs to be done every 1000 hrs but the sprag.it can go for the life of the engine. Most issues with the sprag is not a good enough earth direct to the engine which makes the starter not work quite as well and this tends to wear out the sprag. Spin the enine as fast as you can on start and there doesnt seem to be any issues witht he sprag.

yes mine was a 2015 engine...but they will still frett but no where near as bad as the early cases

These are not made in china..from memory they were made in germany..all the ones we got. The specs between the Fagg and SKF are the same..I think Rotax changed because they got a better deal on bearings.

yes the issue was the grind on the top of the cam lobes..it wasnt profiled enough to make the lifter spin. The wrecked engine Danny and I bought to have spare parts actually had that failure..the cam wore through and that cylinder when bang

Thats a nice looking aircraft..interesting is that it is all electric now but they are going to do a hybrid using a 57kw wankel as the source...so they seem to think thats the way to go as well

My rebuilt engine showing the lifters rotaing as they should after the cam profile had been done correctly

Yes Nev the block, crank and cam have all be crack tested including all in the gearbox The crank has been welded to take the extra hp, the cam has been totally reground to ensire corrent profile so that the lifters rotate and the gearbox is exactly the same that is used on the 914 engine so it will take the power. The lifters not rotating has been a issue for the Rotax and this has been the source of cam failures in Rotax, The big thing for the gearbox is the weight of the prop and extension and spinner. Mine is only 2.4kg total and extremely balanced so gearbox load and wear will only be by the physical hp applied to it. The main bearings in the gearbox are now SKF and not Fagg the SKF is a better bearing

on rebuilds for Rotax at TT then you are supposed to change the valves and of course springs etc. The biggest issue with any Rotax rebuild is the block and the journals. A mate went through 3 engines before he found a good one to rebuild. There are a lot of blocks out there that you dont know until you strip them what lies beneath. So if you buy a engine you do so on the proviso that when it is pulled apart that it is able to be rebuilt otherwise you get stuck with a 5K or 6k ornament

I dont believe you can in RAAA

My engine for the S-21 is a 2015 2000hr ex flying school engine. It cost me 5k to buy My pistons and cylinders are brand new in the guise of a big bore kit The engine totally disassembled and measured to make sure all is still within spec and no fretting of the cases. The crank has been welded and all rotating moving parts have been balanced All new inlet and exhaust valves and springs and collets the heads are original but have been cleaned and speced All new through bolts and studs All seals and Oring's and bearings replaced New sprag clutch The gearbox has new bearings and seals and has been retorqued to spec All new oil and water pipes and fuel pump as in the 5 year replacement Most of the major parts are after market but some just can not be bought that way Total cost to me is around 13k others will be much higher Total cost if using genuine Rotax parts would be around 25-27k..new engine being about 34k now This will give me 114hp as stock power, with a tricked tuned exhaust I am hoping to get close to 120hp

It will depend on the smallest ICE that can power the generator to keep the batteries charged. I am not sure on how much horsepower size engine would be required. Generators now can be at a lot higher speed so you could get more efficency then hopefuly the weight penalty could be minimal. If you could extend flight range to say 3 or 4 hrs plus reserve that would be ok for our market.

Certainly as a interim that would be a good solve

Back in those days politicans had visions...now their only vision is how to stay in government not what is best for the country and its peoples. Even though Gough was a raving commie although not a full marxist commie he had the vison to take the country forward but never got a chance to make it possible

The future is electric of course...but the biggest stumbling block has not been solved enough yet...The batteries or for a more rounded solver...the fuel source

The cost of the Rotax parts is a big part of what makes aircraft costs being expensive. Let alone the labour costs which are high of course. Most of the genuine parts costs are just off the planet when they are just repacked parts off the shelf from Joe Bloggs auto store

I agree Nev...all the parts we have used are either what Rotax actually use from a manufacturer but we got them from the source. The sprag clutch is from a BMW bike, Bearings are SKF or Fagg Orings and seals are all high end quaility most likely better than Rotax ones but being obtained from reasonable sources the cost is far far cheaper

Yes. My engine for the S-21 only has parts in it that I could not get from elsewhere. I had to get the slippers, valve springs and cotters, studs and various shims and thrust washers...this totalled $2500 !!!! The rest like roller bearings and gearbox bearings and all seals and Orings, the valves and pistons and cylinders were from the big bore kit all have been obtained from elsewhere and mostly are even higher quality that supplied by Rotax Engine rebuilds can be done at a far better reasonable price if you know where to find stuff. I have a mate who is in a business that deals with all sorts of mechanical stuff and is a whiz at sourcing all this stuff. Oc course you cant do this with anything certified but for experimental or 19 rego its not a issue and you literally can save 10k on a rebuild

I got a new sprag clutch plate out of England for $140 landed here...the only issue is the outer is produced by Rotax so thats a issue but iy is usually the plate and springs not the outer drum that is the issue

We have just got in a new pump we are looking at using as a replacement. It is a Pierburg one...looks like it will be perfect. out of England...40 euro