912S - Carb Heat or Not??

[N82HB]

I just helped a friend bring a 912 powered Kitfox back from Iowa. It has the carb heat on it, but my first thoughts were the remove it. Weight, simplicity, and all those words kept creeping up on me.

I know mine works fine, but I wanted some more input.
Thanks so much,
Kelly

[jtpitkin06]

I would like to offer up the following sobering facts on carburetor ice. The NTSB files are full of accidents caused by carburetor icing. Many of the reports have statements from the pilot such as:

I thought (brand name) engines don’t get carb ice.
I didn’t use carb heat because it’s a warm day.
It can’t be carb ice because it isn’t (raining, snowing, sleeting, freezing)
And my favorite...

I flew for hundreds of hours without it and never had a problem.





It's a safety feature. Use it.


OK... I'm climbing down off my soap box, now.


John Pitkin
Greenville, Texas

[Andrew G]

You'd think fuel injection would have been advanced by Rotax years ago... as a standard feature. Why don't they?

[Av8r3400]

One word answer: Liability.

Every time BRP approaches a manufacturer about fuel injection they all run away from "aircraft" usage due to liability. (This is per one of the people who is in the know at a Rotax service center.)

[Dorsal]

While I support John's usually sage advice I would still like to know if anyone has ever experienced carb ice on a Rotax 9xx with the intake inside the cowl?

[wannafly]

912s on my fox IV. no carb heat...no icing so far, knock on wood. 84 hours on it with the air intake against the firewall

[sdemeyer]

Up here in the Pacific North Wet, rain and moisture are common every day experiences. It's relatively common to have temp/dew points within 3deg. I have flown in all types of conditions and have never had carb ice on my 912UL, that I know of. My neighbor on the other hand, gets carb ice frequently on his 172.

[Tom Waid]

My neighbor on the other hand, gets carb ice frequently on his 172.

If your neighbor has an early 172 with an O-300 I feel his pain. The O-300 on my 172 is a great engine but it'll pick up carburetor ice on a Summer's day here in Florida.

[Bryan]

I will chime in here. I am not going to say which is the best but I will tell you that I visited with Lockwood Aviation at Oshkosh this past year about my 912engine quiting on me shortly after takeoff on my third touch and go. I was wondering about the possibility of carb ice and after talking with them they felt real strong about the 912's not needing carb heat. They told me that the only instance of a 912 icing that they were aware of was on their Aircam, and it was in perfect icing conditions. They told me that with a cowled engine and the carbs located directly above the exhaust, and heat rises, that there was no need to have the carb heat. We came to the conclusion that my problem was vapor lock. Just wanted to let you know what I was told.

[jtpitkin06]

I'd like to hear from someone that has a carb temp gauge on their 912 engine.

JP