Rotax Celebrates 50,000th Engine and 25th Anniversary of 912

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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Pia Bergqvist joined FLYING in December 2010. A passionate aviator, Pia started flying in 1999 and quickly obtained her single- and multi-engine commercial, instrument and instructor ratings. After a decade of working in general aviation, Pia has accumulated almost 3,000 hours of flight time in nearly 40 different types of aircraft.

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