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Thread: Rotax Price Increase

  1. #11
    Senior Member jdmcbean's Avatar
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    Jun 2008
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    Homedale, ID
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    536

    Default Re: Rotax Price Increase

    [quote=Lynn Matteson;5032]
    If 80% of the LSA's sold are Rotax-powered, maybe it's because they've been selling that engine longer than the others.

    I've also heard that Rotax gives the dealer a better percentage of each sale than Jabiru does. To me, that's a pretty poor excuse for promoting the use of a Rotax engine [quote]

    Lynn, It is closer to about 90% to 95%. The Jabiru is an alternative choice on some and was available at the beginning of S-LSA for manufactures to choose.

    Wherever you get your information regarding percentages is flat wrong... We offer both Rotax and Jabiru, as well as Continental, Lycoming and can offer Rotec Radial. They are all about equal.

    Whatever powerplant one chooses to fly behind.. be safe and thank you for flying a Kitfox !!
    Last edited by jdmcbean; 09-30-2009 at 08:51 AM.
    John McBean
    www.kitfoxaircraft.com
    208.337.5111

    "The Sky is not the Limit... It's a Playground"

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Grass Lake, Michigan
    Posts
    49

    Default Re: Rotax Price Increase

    Mike-
    I had a couple of folks look at the gear design, and one guy in particular said he'd like to try to make a gear with a stub-tooth shape, I believe he called it. My impression is that if they had only moved the camshaft 1/8 to 1/4" further away from the crankshaft, there would have been room for a slide-on gear and woodruff key, instead of the "hat-shaped" slide-over-the-end-of-the-crank style gear that they went with. My other beef with this design is that the gear provides the wear surface for the crankshaft seal. My gear broke right along the groove that was worn into it from the seal. I don't think that the wear groove was a contributing factor to the breakage, rather that the groove became a "fire stop" so to speak, for the crack to end in. My gear looks like it had been cracked for some time prior to breaking. In fact, I was showing someone the engine at Oshkosh in 2008, and noticed oil seepage coming from the rear seal area. I flew it home...about 4 hours...and flew it a few more hours and then the breakage occurred. Had I looked into the leakage, I might have saved myself some grief, but normally a front or rear seal seepage in an engine is not cause for alarm, but in this case (and for me in the future) it was. What I believe happened was that the gear had been cracked, and the crack ran right through the seal area, allowing the cracked edges of the gear to act like a lathe tool, carving away at the seal and causing the leak.

    John-
    That info on dealer percentages might just have come from a representative from another engine make...do you suppose I was given bad info? Hard to believe....

    Love the Kifox, John. It's allowed me to do things I hadn't thought possible after retirement!
    Lynn

  3. #13
    Senior Member SkyPirate's Avatar
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    Apr 2009
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    Edgar Springs MO
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    1,841

    Default Re: Rotax Price Increase

    Lynn I don't log on to get here ,..I just close the browser,.and put a link on my desk top.when I come back to it I'm already logged on.


    Chase

  4. #14
    Senior Member Dorsal's Avatar
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    Sep 2008
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    Central, MA
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    Default Re: Rotax Price Increase

    Lynn,
    Just chiming in that I too was glad to see your post "over here". I am a member of both groups and though I like the format and usability of this one I also value the experience and advice of several of the members of the Matt list. Not sure if there is a resolution thats puts us all in the same place but it would be nice.
    (I also never have to log-in, just click a link)
    Dorsal ~~^~~
    Series 7 - Tri-Gear
    912 ULS Warp Drive

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