Rotax had a big celebration last week at its factory in Gunskirchen, Austria, as the company marked the 25th anniversary of the Rotax 912 and delivered its 50,000th aircraft engine. The celebration was held at Rotax’s second annual fly-in with about 160 people in attendance from 25 countries and four continents. More than 70 light and ultralight aircraft flew in for the event.
Francois Tremblay, Rotax’s marketing director, explained during a presentation at the event how the company’s aircraft engine business began after dealers started selling Rotax’s snowmobile engines for use in ultralight aircraft. Rotax’s first certified aircraft engine was delivered in 1975.
The celebratory 50,000th engine was a 912 iS Sport, a model the company launched less than a year ago at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The new engine builds on the fuel-injected version of the 912, making it more efficient by increasing the size of the airbox, modifying the intake and updating the engine control unit (ECU) software.
Tremblay said the 50,000th engine will be delivered to a dealer in South Africa.
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