Rotax

Three companies in Europe – Tecnam, BRP-Rotax and Siemens – announced they will lead a project for the development of parallel hybrid powertrains in general aviation. Funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, the “High Power High Scalability Aircraft Hybrid Powertrain” (H3PS) project has the goal of providing a “foundation for the development, manufacturing […]

The crowds at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in its third day at the Sebring Regional Airport in central Florida aren’t overwhelming, but there has been an enthusiastic influx of visitors each day. Highlights of the show have been the aerial demonstrations of LSA on display, especially with strong winds down the runway allowing for […]

After a fitful production start for the A5 light-sport aircraft, Icon Aircraft has regrouped. The company has built a composite factory in Mexico to “improve and control the manufacturing process while simultaneously reducing cost,” says Icon’s founder and CEO, Kirk Hawkins. While the new Tijuana-based composite shop is getting up and running, Icon has opened […]

“And now for something completely different.” It was a line from that brilliant 1970s British television comedy show, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, but it could just as easily be used to introduce The Airplane Factory’s new, fits-into-its-own-niche airplane, the cheeky Sling 4. A four-place cruiser that carries four adults, several hours’ worth of fuel and […]

You may recall a German company called Remos — a manufacturer that arrived on the U.S. LSA scene early with several airplane offerings that had previously been available as ultralights in Europe. The company was forced to reorganize in 2014, and its future was questionable. However, Remos is now coming back in full force with […]

BRP announced at EAA AirVenture its intent to produce a more powerful version of its immensely popular Rotax 912/914 series of engines. The turbocharged four-cylinder Rotax 915 iS is designed to produce up to 135 horsepower continuously as high as 15,000 feet and continue to climb to a service ceiling of 23,000 feet. The 915 […]

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 […]

Rotax today introduced a new version of its popular 912 series engine for light aircraft, the 912 iS Sport. The big change from the current 912 iS engine is a bigger airbox that ups the torque curve for shorter takeoff runs and steeper climbs while also providing improved fuel efficiency and higher top-end cruise speed. […]

There’s a new AD out for fuel hose problems on the Rotax 912 four-stroke aircraft engine, which has over the past 20 years become one of the most popular production engines. The FAA issued an airworthiness directive (AD) for Rotax 912 series F2, F3, F4, S2 and S3 engines that requires replacing the pressure side […]

The fuel-injected, fadec-equipped Rotax 912 iS, which was introduced by BRP earlier this spring, has achieved ASTM approval. What this milestone means is that LSA manufacturers can now install the engine and meet the industry’s consensus standards without the airplane being under an experimental certificate. Engines already installed will be able to get ASTM stickers […]