Webinar: Rotax 912 Engines and Sonex Aircraft

[@xeriotti]

54:16 Thats my little bird!!! Thanks for making it part of the video... The answers: Thats actually a 4 to 1 equal lenght exhaust i made, I live in Argentina and have no access to stock parts (either becuase of local laws or for prohibitive prices) so we have to make things work by ourselves!! Collector tube with no muffling at all. Sounds AMAZING... Pretty much like a sportbike. Havnt flown it yet im fugiring out cowling and cooling. The radiator in the bottom corresponds to the oil circuit, water radiator is vertically mounted at the left of the engine and i will fit a naca vent pretty much like that beautiful sonex from Sweden. Feel free to ask anything. Im here to learn. And if i can make anyone elses plane safer, faster, cheaper or easier to build that will make me really happy :)

[@garynoss818]

Thanks for posting on KZbin! It gives us a chance to ask questions/ make observations over time and not just during Webinars.

[@russellduffy]

Thanks for the presentation, and the background development. I've been flying a Onex with the 912, originally 80 HP, and now maybe 95ish. I made my own firewall mount to use the ring mount. My cowl and installation will probably never be finished, but fortunately I enjoy the development part more than flying I think. BTW, I'll be interested to see how long that muffler wrap lasts. I had the best you could buy on my Toucan exhaust, and it crumbled in less than 20 hrs. I ended up switching to stainless shields.

[@russellesimonetta9071]

Uhh,, I think your new highwing is going to be your best seller! Don,t go for stol back country!! That segment is hugely saturated!!! Stick to a high speed cross country machine liked the Tailwind but modernized!

[@tinolino58]

Rotax probably the most expensive engine per horsepower!

[@xeriotti]

Most reliable engine for experimentals i can think about...

[@tinolino58]

@@xeriotti you may upgrade your information ☀️

[@joeshmooo5327]

@@tinolino58 like to hear what information you have that disputes this? Never seen a rotax installation having pilots worried about EGT temps etc. No it just starts and flys

[@tinolino58]

@@joeshmooo5327 Ask the majority of Zenith builders 😇

[@markg4459]

Not really when you consider how long they are expected to last. Rotax ULS (100 hp) goes for $26,800. The ULPower 260 (97 hp) goes for $22,345, the ULPower 260is (107 hp) is selling for $23,980. BUT you need to also consider the TBO. Rotax gives a TBO of 2000 hrs. So yes, you pay a little bit more for the Rotax but also get another 500 hrs than the ULPower engines for just 3-4 thousand dollars. Aerovee engines are less expensive and don't even publish a TBO...but are expected to last, according to the company selling them, only between 700-1200 hrs depending on use.

[@anthonyrstrawbridge]

Hi I'm Anthony I'm generally off topic poking the hornets nest or imagining big things in R&D. Quite frankly I'm sucking lemons with where Sonex has taken the Aerovee platform development. Probably nothing is worse than how I feel about stalling takeoff of the electric motor development. Quite frankly, my vision for the 80 HP Aerovee was ( is) to increase efficiency, power generation, and endurance while reducing cooling demands. I think it takes three systems to accomplish this goal using proven technologies respective to electrical, mechanical, and waste heat energy conversion. I think it's important in todays economy and in consideration of natural resources and environmental goals to satisfy part of all these objectives. Let's face it, the combustion engine struggles to exceed an efficiency of less than 50% - 35% at sea level. If we convert the mechanical horsepower to actual KW a reasonable power output estimate is 30-15 KW. However, the waste heat of this engine is capable of producing more than 30KW of energy. Scavenging the waste heat while simultaneously reducing the needed engine cooling is effectively accomplished by transferring the heat through a heat exchanger into water or steam electrical power generation via the turbine. This harnesses the energy and provides a combined efficiency exceeding 70-90%. Storing that energy in a small lightweight LFP battery bank and delivering it to a crankshaft mounted inductive or brushless dc motor configuration. Engine loading decreases, waste heat management increases, power output increases0

[@daronotwell7025]

Airplanes are fun.

[@fast_richard]

Please post pictures of your prototype, no matter how crude and preliminary. I assume this is not just pulled out of your nether regions. This after all is experimental aviation, not airy fairy fantasy.

[@anthonyrstrawbridge]

@@fast_richard Thanks for your interest.

[@ZeeCaptainRon]

So captain clueless, you want steam power in a LSA, with all the other BS required to do it? Perhaps you should buy the company and put your money where your "dreams" are. Better yet, start your own company and stuff all that crap into an airframe. Something else that will literally NEVER get off the ground. I am guessing that if you went to college, your degree was a BA in design and not engineering, amiright?

[@tigerbite8]

First

[@electricaviationchannelvid7863]

2nd

[@electricaviationchannelvid7863]

Amendment...

[@ZeeCaptainRon]

12 minutes in, still no rotax... Cutting to the chase, so y'all don't waste anymore time, it's a rotax bash session and all recommendations are steering elsewhere. I quit watching at 20min.