I am leaning towards flight design but I have also considered a Remos and Sport Cruiser. I live in New England and my flying would mostly be there and upstate New York. At my home airfield and, elsewhere where I would be flying, mogas is virtually non existent. Everything I have read indicates higher maintenance costs and maybe more serious performance problems if you continuously run 100LL. Even pronouncements by Rotax are not encouraging, even with the use of additives.
This gives me serious doubts about purchasing an LSA even though I am very interested. In fact, I am sure I am not alone is this concern and I think it probably really hurts the broader adoption of LSA. Not many people want to make a major investment in a aircraft with the knowledge that they are probably going to have major issues and unusual cost in operating it.
Hi Rich,
I don't know what you have heard, but I respectfully disagree with what you are saying. I have had my PiperSport for two years and have several friends that also bought the PiperSport which is powered by the Rotax 912ULS engine. I have owned many planes in the 50 plus years I have been flying and I for one am very impressed with the Rotax quality. It has by far been less costly and more trouble free and reliable than any of the Lycoming or Continental engines I have had. What other plane or engine can you get 30 MPG (5.4 GPH) and fly at 109 knots. Several of my Rotax powered aircraft friends use nothing but 100LL without a single problem. I will admit you may have to change oil at 25-30 hours but so did I when I had a Cherokee 180. There are some issues with the 100LL that need to be addressed like cleaning the oil tank at 250 to 300 hours (if you burn only 100LL) but that takes just a few minutes to clean it out if needed. Regarding the lead buildup from 100LL, you have the same problem with any aircraft engine. It is just a matter that Rotax prefers that you use Auto Gas so the engine will run cleaner without the problems that 100LL causes regardless what engine you are flying with.
My PiperSport has been the most maintenance free and low cost plane I have ever owned. After flying the PiperSport(SportCruiser) the first time I didn't even look at the Remos or CT. There are many fine S-LSA planes on the market, but don't let the 100LL scare you off of a great engine.
Rich I got to thinking about what you said about no Mogas on your field. Most fields don't have Mogas including mine (KPWA). At home I have 8 five gallon (Walmart) fuel cans that I keep in the hangar with 91 Octane fuel and fill the plane myself when ever needed. Could you not do the same and use only Mogas when at home?
I probably could refuel using mogas from cans at my home airfield although this practice is frowned on and may be forbidden.
However, this brings up a second issue and that is ethanol. As far as I can determine , the only gas available for purchase, in my area, contains 10% ethanol. Again, Rotax is not very reassuring about the use of 10% ethanol mogas and the water contamination with this gas for aircraft that sit idle for any period of time is well known.
Don't get me wrong here, I believe the Rotax is a great power plant. If non ethanol mogas was readily available at airfields i would have no reservations. However, the practlcal aspects of the fuel issue seem quite large. Since Rotax has a pretty big stake in the success of LSA I do feel they should address these issues more aggressively.
As a side note, I have a couple of hours in a Sport Cruiser. I actually loved the aircraft but had some reservations which were: the somewhat difficult ingress and egress, especially for my wife who has joint issues; their support network in the US; and durability, which comes from a collapsed nose gear and major damage in a fairly routine landing in the aircraft I had flown.
Let me thank you again for the time you have taken to answer my, maybe naive, questions. I really, really appreciate it.
Rotax authorizes 10% ethanol and it has actually been tested higher. So the engine is good to go on 10%, but you need to make sure the tanks and other components in your aircraft are good. As far as water goes believe it or not ethanol is no big deal. You could absorb quite a lot of water and it would burn right through the system and you would never know it. With 100LL water settles out and you could possibly get a slug of water. That won't happen with the Mogas unless the fuel is so saturated that the water begins to fall out. Then it would be time to drain all the fuel. Unless you let the rain in or stand by and just pour water in the tank that isn't likely to happen for most people.
Too many people worry way too much about the Mogas and ethanol. Truth is it is used widely and people aren't having issues.
Roger Lee LSRM-A & Rotax Instructor & Rotax IRC Tucson, AZ Ryan Airfield (KRYN) 520-349-7056 Cell
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