New Rotax user and Kitfox builder

[permagne]

Hi

Some friends of mine and I are enjoying the work of rebuilding a Kitfox 3 from early 1990. We are located in Trondheim, Norway, if any locals are interessted in a look or interested in a meeting of some kind.

We have an Rotax 582 grayhead from same period. Which was preserved at the time and stored dry and indoors.

As a new Rotax user/owner im updating myself and trying to understand the regime of service bulletins and service instructions.

I understand the Service Bulletins must be adressed imedeately for reliability and safety. Service instructions is matter you concider when you are doing maintenance on that particular part anyway, not as urgent and mostly for convenience regarding parts etc.

As for the Rotax 582 I have some questions which will ease my mind some. Am I right when there is no changes(no SB) to the 582?
I must be sure that we have the engine up to date before we start to roll this plane. Is ther any recommended alterations which is best to perform now, as we are working on the engine installation.

Because of the 300h TBO for the 582 I guess the overhaul is something the owner perfomes himself. I've got a quote for and overhaul, and its in the neighbourhood of 3500$. So If the overhaul is to be handed over to a certified mechanic or service center, a new rotax 912 with TBO of 2000h is cheap in any comparison.

Thanks for a good forum with lots of information. I've been sneeking aroud for a while without posting :-D

Per Magne

[rogerh12]

This is mostly hearsay, but that stated TBO of 300h is a very conservative number. If you take care of the engine and don’t operate it at it’s peak-torque rpm (which reduces stress on the crank), then TBO’s of 600-800 hours are pretty common. Some have over 800 hours (or so I have heard) and still have full power !!!!.
Hope this helps
Roger

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[permagne]

I really apreciate the information.

It's useful to get to know how the 582 performes and which maintenance regime the different owners practices.

Our big question is wether to go for a 4 stroke engine. But that involves more money. As for now, the plane and engine we have is free(paid for back in -90), and we aim for a very low hourly rate on the plane so we can stay in the air more for each $ spent. If we where to go for a new engine, we would need to increase the rate conciderably.

We are concidering a BRS chute to compensate for the lesser reliability of a 2 stroke. Anyone else had the same conciderations?

[rogerh12]

I think the BRS is best for planes that might breakup in flight, like utralights. The Kitfox lands very slow and has never had an in flight breakup, so it’s not a very popular mod. Also, the parachute ejects out the bottom of the craft and tears off the fabric (as I understand), so it’s not very popular for that reason too.
Upgrading the landing gear to something more rugged might be a better choice if you think the engine might quit (as it did on the previous owner of my model 2). The 582’s do use more fuel than a 4-stroke, but unless your model is the higher gross weight version of the model 3, I don’t think the extra weight of a 4-stroke is something you want.
Probably best to just go with what you have now and make the best of it, and keep in mind it’s limitations when you are flying and maintaining it. If you had a model 5-7, well, then you might consider other engine options more seriously.

I am putting a 2273cc VW conversion on my model 4-1200 myself (the factory is only 4 hours from my house and I have experience with them on 2 other planes) . I have also upgraded to spring landing gear and converted it to a Tri-gear.
Roger

[Mnflyer]

Hi permagne, check the water pump seal to be sure it has the up to date seal (ceramic type) also make sure the engine has a thermostat installed(they do not come from Rotax with one). Follow the Rotax recommendations they designed the engine and they know when an overhaul is needed, the TBO for this engine is 300 hrs don't go with what someone got out of their engine supposedly, for every 582 that made it to 600 hrs 10 have failed before that time. They will make 300 hrs safely if regular maint is done. An engine failure is not a good thing in my part of the country if you have miles of open space to make an engine out landing well that's a help, but why risk a nice airplace to save a few dollars.
And yes on an hourly base's the 582 is and expensive engine tp operate and no you really can not do a complete overhaul yourself unless you have the special tools needed to dissemble the crankshaft and reassemble it.
Good luck with your plane.

[HighWing]

Per,
There are lots of guys with the Rotax 912 in Model IIIs. It is a viable option. Then, regarding the 582. In our flying group one of the guys had one in his Model IV and we flew all over the mountains of Idaho with him along. Another guy joined our group later and also had a 582. What I have come to learn over the years, the 582 is a fine engine, but it requires a bit more attention during and between flights. As MNFlyer mentions, follow the guidelines. Incidentally, both our guys with 582s have now retrofitted the 912.
Lowell