How find shop inspect my 912ULS gearbox?

[3kdscf]

So I am at 577 hours coming up on my 600 hour required inspection of the gearbox on my 912ULS and I am very puzzled about how and where to get this inspection done. I live in Southern California and would love to take it to a Rotax shop that specializes in this but strangely, am having trouble locating one. I thought that only a licensed A&P could be hired to do this kind of work but yet when I use the service locator below, there appear to be a lot of independent rotax maintenance technicians (iRMT) who are not A&Ps and their training appears to be only a two day course. I am simply not comfortable entrusting my engine and my life to someone without an A&P whose training was limited to a two day class.

Although I have loved doing my own 100 and 200 hour services, especially ripping apart the Bing carbs, looking at the specialized tools to do the gearbox inspection is a bit daunting so I was planning on hiring a professional but if all I can find is someone who has taken a two day class then I will do it myself. Am I missing something here? It cant be that hard to get a Rotax serviced.

Here is the service locator:
https://rotaxirmt.com/locator

[jiott]

I recommend Leaf or South Mississippi Light Aircraft.

[3kdscf]

Thanks! I have been buying parts from LEAF for awhile now and they have top notch service, did not know they did engine work too. Although its a long flight from California, might be worth it!

[efwd]

You can try California Power Systems (subsid of Aircraft Spruce). The shop is located on Chino airport last I knew. He actually does a lot of work Mobile so I am not certain he still has a shop. I plan to have him do my gearbox. His name escapes me and I haven't located his card yet but I believe it is Kevin.
Eddie

[3kdscf]

THANKS! Chino is closer for me. I found a Kevin and CPS, I will email him and see if he will do my gearbox! Here is the contact info I found for him:



Phone: 1-800-247-9653 (tel:1-800-247-9653)
Mail: kevinkane@cps-aviationservices.com


The general email for rotax services is info@cps-aviationservices.com

I will report back what I find out, thanks again!

[jiott]

CPS had a good reputation for service for many years; then recently I started hearing disturbing things related to changes in their service shop. Maybe by now things are back up to snuff, but I personally would do some checking.

[3kdscf]

No indication why Rotax cut CPS off in 2021 but cant be good. I just found this on the Aircraft Spruce website:

"California Power Systems (CPS) moved to Corona, CA in November 2011 and over the past ten years we have provided Rotax parts and service to owners of Rotax powered aircraft as the iSC for the Western U.S. Unfortunately, CPS is no longer an iSC and is unable to order parts engines or parts from Rotax. The CPS website is now being redirected to www.aircraftspruce.com (http://www.aircraftspruce.com) so that former CPS customers have access to the wide selection of aviation products available from Aircraft Spruce."

[3kdscf]

After lots of investigating, I came up with a solution that I was comfortable with. Remove the gearbox and send it to a certified service center. Motive Aero in Hurricane Utah charges $700 + any parts needing replacing. You include a letter with the engine serial number and the hours on the engine and with the returned, inspected engine they send an endorsement sticker to put in the engine log book.

[Redline]

Motive Aero has a Petaluma branch. Haven't used them yet but will be soon.
https://motive.aero/

[3kdscf]

Motive Aero has a Petaluma branch. Haven't used them yet but will be soon.
https://motive.aero/

Cool! I will check that out to see if they do major maintenance because then I could just drive it there! I have a suspicion though that all the major work is done at their Utah facility.

[3kdscf]

If anyone is going this route and pulling your own gearbox to send it in to a factory approved center for the 600 hour maintenance, there are a few gotchas you need to be aware of. First are the somewhat expensive tools required and their leadtime. The 877660 Rotax gearbox puller is over $500 and is on at least a 30 day backorder now. Thankfully Aircraft Spruce has one for about $100 that is an automotive slide hammer with a Rotax adapter bracket. If you are going to pull the drive gear off and include that in your maintenance, you need the 877445 41mm socket ($300), an 845430 lockwasther, and lotcktite 648 to put it back on. Note that Aircraft Spruce also has a cheap alternative to the 41mm socket.

[efwd]

That little nugget of info is very timely. Appreciate it.
Guess Ill schedule with the mechanic.

[Geek]

What Eddie said!! Thank you for the options and saving us from the Rotax surprise.

Garty

[Eric Page]

Let me save everyone the same treasure hunt I just went through trying to find these items...

Rotax gear puller:
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/rtxpages/15-05923.php

41mm socket:
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/sunex12-03448-1.php

If, like me, you don't have a 3/4" drive tool, they also list a 3/4"-to-1/2" drive adapter:
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/sunex12-03452-3.php

If you prefer lower prices, there are plenty of 41mm sockets on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=41mm+socket

...as well as 3/4"-to-1/2" adapters:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=3%2F4+male+to+1%2F2+female+socket+adapter

Just be sure to order the right combination of 1/2" female to 3/4" male; the Amazon search mixes up both options.

[efwd]

Thank You Eric.
I just found out this week that California Power Systems is no longer affiliated with AS&S if even in existance. Im hoping Kevin is still around with his mobile shop. Need to call him still. Thanks for the post.

[3kdscf]

Just an update on my experience with getting my 912ULS gearbox 600 hour inspection done by Motive aero in Utah. Went flawlessly, would use them again for my next 600hr inspection. Three business days after they recieved the gearbox by UPS they had shipped it back to me with the signed sticker for my engine logbook entry.