Rotax Independent Repair Centre

[drseti]

<shameless plug>

AvSport has been designated the official Rotax Independent Repair Centre for Western PA. Call our shop for service, maintenance, or inspection of your Rotax-powered LSA airplane, motorglider, powered parachute, or weight shift trike. We are Heavy Maintenance certified for the 912 series of engines.

</shameless plug>

[Nomore767]

Paul,

Thanks for that and good luck!

It'll be really nice to stop by and take advantage of the 20% discount offered to Sport Pilot Talk members!

(Shameless begging)

[drseti]

Can't do that, Howard, but as a special deal for SportPilotTalk members, I'm prepared to waive state sales tax.

(For those who aren't aware, acft maint is now tax exempt in PA. )

[Merlinspop]

Can't do that, Howard, but as a special deal for SportPilotTalk members, I'm prepared to waive state sales tax.

(For those who aren't aware, acft maint is now tax exempt in PA. )

Free Klondike bar?

Every time I see "Heavy Maintenance" and "Rotax" in the same sentence, I picture a piece of construction equipment like a bulldozer running on a Rotax. Or by "heavy" does that mean you also work on the fuel injected models?

[Nomore767]

Can't do that, Howard, but as a special deal for SportPilotTalk members, I'm prepared to waive state sales tax.

(For those who aren't aware, acft maint is now tax exempt in PA. )

Hmm..so THAT'S how he could afford a Porsche! It must be nice.

[drseti]

does that mean you also work on the fuel injected models?

Well, yes, Bruce, I can, but that's not what Rotax means by "heavy." They have three levels of certification. "Service" enables you to do fluid changes, carb tuneups, compression checks, etc. "Maintenance" qualifies you to remove and replace engine components. "Heavy Maintenance" training authorizes you to overhaul or repair those engine components.

Only a Rotax Service Center can do complete engine overhauls. I have no desire to get mired in that level of detail.

[CTLSi]

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[drseti]

Free Klondike bar?

Mmmmmmm ... klondike bars!

[drseti]

What level dongle do you guys have?

I don't have a dongle. I pull the ECU and send it to Lockwood for the firmware upgrades -- they're the experts!

Also, are you up on the sport upgrade?

Very much so. I have a customer whose upgrade parts just came in (they were a long time in arriving), so I'll be starting his upgrade shortly.

[drseti]

Hmm..so THAT'S how he could afford a Porsche! It must be nice.

Actually, Howard, it was a horse-trade. (Horsepower trade?). Two for one. I swapped my Pontiac Solstice and my antique MG-TD straight across for the Boxster S. Best kind of deal; no cash exchanged hands.

My wife gave me a rule: for every new toy I acquire, I have to get rid of two old ones. So, this kept her happy.

[CTLSi]

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[roger lee]

Hi Paul,

If you are going to work on any 912is engines and do anything other than change the plugs and oil you'll need a dongle. Part of the annual is looking and downloading faults. If anything is out of the norm you'll need a dongle to connect to the system to even see what it might be. If they will sell you one you're better off with a level 3. dongles are about $1K. These engines are so different it's time to take more classes.

[drseti]

Just found out Lockwood has the sport kits,

Well, sort of. They have kits on hand for those customers who ordered theirs two months ago. (They can't stock generic kits, because they have to be ordered specifically by engine serial number). Now that the first batch is finally in, they expect subsequent orders to be filled more quickly.

and have the top level dongle required for the ECU updates. No one else has the double secret top dongle, they got it from Germany.

True. This is why I'm sending them my customer's ECU to re-program, rather than doing it in house.

Lockwood just told us that the clutch assembly is part of the kit, are you also able to install that?

I could, but it turns out it's quicker and cheaper for my customer if I just pull the gearbox, ship it to Lockwood (along with the ECU for re-programming), and have them install the new slipper clutch (and return it along with the reprogrammed ECU). So, that's what I'm doing.

We also found out that Lockwood won't ship the kits until they get paid for them, then they reimburse once the switched out parts and the engine serial number tag is returned to them.

Sort of. Customer buys the parts, pays Lockwood, Lockwood ships to a Heavy Maintenance facility, the mods get done, and when all the paperwork (plus the old engine data plate) are returned to Rotax, it is Rotax that reimburses customers the $2k or so for the parts, plus 8 hours of the labor.

All engines that get the upgrade are given a new engine serial number.

Maybe. All Rotax told me is that they will issue a new engine data plate, which I will install (and return the old one). It is not clear if the serial number will be the same, or different. I suspect, the same (but the model number will say iS Sport). Won't know for sure until this mod is done. (Oh, the joys of being an early adopter...)

[drseti]

Hi Paul,

If you are going to work on any 912is engines and do anything other than change the plugs and oil you'll need a dongle.

I'm painfully aware of this, Roter. To date, I haven't done anything other than plugs, oil, etc. -- no condition inspections, because there just aren't any 1 year old iS engines around these parts!

These engines are so different it's time to take more classes.

I fully agree! When I took the heavy maint course in October 2012 from Eric Tucker, nobody (including him) knew much about these engines. Now that they're out there in some significant numbers, everybody's coming up to speed. And, I'm already enrolled for the January course at Lockwood. (Good thing I love going to school...)

[CTLSi]

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