Rotax Awards Free 912 Engine to Flight School Rotax/Bilder/Flight_school... · Madiba Bay School of Flight uses The Airplane Factory Sling models, which are nearly always equipped

Rotax Awards Free 912 Engine to Flight SchoolBy Dan Johnson, February 8, 2015

One year ago Rotax announced a contest toaward a brand­new 912 engine to the flightschool that achieved the first time betweenoverhaul (TBO) of 2,000 hours on a Rotax 912iS model that the engine builder had justreleased. Upon reaching the goal, the flightschool had to prove the hours by sending acopy of the logbook to their local distributor andthen return the used engine to Rotax BRP inAustria.

At the end of January 2015, Rotax announcedthey had donated a copy of their newest Rotax912 iS Sport engine to Madiba Bay School ofFlight located in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape,South Africa. "Madiba Bay achieved the firsttime between overhauls (TBO) of 2,000 hourson their Sling 2 equipped with a Rotax 912 iSengine," said representatives of the big Austrianengine manufacturer.

Flight school owner Gerhard Van Eeden said,"We are pleased to be the winner of a brand­new Rotax 912 iS Sport engine. Our school flies a minimum of 400 hours monthly, a good reason why wedecided to participate in this ROTAX contest as we were convinced we could win."

The conteststarted inFebruary2014. At therate MadibaBay racksup hours ontheir Slingaircraft,they werewellpositionedto win apowerplantthat retailsfor well over$20,000.The schoolreported400 hoursper monthusing

several airplanes and they managed to log 2,000 on at least one in less than a year. Not bad!

"It's impressive to see how obviously professional Madiba Bay School is in operating its flight school toaccumulate 2,000 hours in such a short time," said Thomas Uhr, Vice President BRP­Powertrain and GeneralManager BRP­Powertrain GmbH & Co KG. "And, of course, it makes me proud our Rotax 912 iS Sport was ahassle­free partner for many new pilots and it will now provide valuable information to our continuous R&Defforts, delivering the best aircraft engine in its class."

Rotax believe that flight schools benefit using the Rotax 912 iS Sport thanks to "easier operation, longer flightrange and lower operating costs. The new engine delivers 38% to 70% better fuel efficiency than comparablecompetitive engines," added Uhr. "For flight schools, the Rotax 912 iS Sport engine is economically extremelyvaluable considering that a cost­intensive part for flight schools is the vast quantity of fuel [they use]."

Madiba Bay School of Flight uses The Airplane Factory Sling models,which are nearly always equipped with MGL Avionics. Bothhaverepresentation in the U.S.

So, that's it. The contest is over, right? Nope!They are doing it again.

"Rotax BRP will continue last year's flight schoolcontest and will donate a brand new Rotax 912 iSSport to the flight school that achieves the firstTBO of 2,000 hours on their Rotax 912 iS engine,"the company stated in an early February newsrelease.

The procedure is similar to the 2014 contest: Flightschools must register with an authorized Rotaxdistributor or with the person in charge of the pointof sales in its area. The school must inform thedistributor when 500, 1,000, 1,500 and 2,000 flighthour points are reached using the Rotax 912 iSengine. After reaching 2,000 hours, the schoolsends their logbook to their distributor, which is toinform Rotax BRP, afterwards shipping the engineto Rotax. BRP will then donate a new Rotax 912iS Sport engine in return, and the school saves abundle on either overhaul of their old engine orbuying a new one. Madiba Bay is not allowed to participate in the contest again.

"With more than 170,000 aircraft engines sold inalmost 40 years, Rotax dominates the Light­Sport and microlight aircraft industry offeringmore than 200 points of sale," stated thecompany. "Rotax BRP supports customersworldwide and supplies Rotax aircraft enginesto more than 80% of all aircraft manufacturers inits segment."

Madiba Bay School of Flight usesThe AirplaneFactory (TAF) Sling aircraft in their active flightschool. So, besides Rotax enjoying strongsupport for their engines, TAF also earns creditfor their aircraft holding up to duty that is oftensaid to be one of the most demanding. Studentsdon't learn without making mistakes so hard

landings happen.

The traditional U.S. flight school community has been somewhat slow to embrace LSA because some allegethat LSA are too lightly built. Indeed LSA weigh more than 300 pounds less than popular trainers like Cessna'slong­discontinued 150 and 152 models. However, experiences such as Madiba Bay with their Sling fleet andmany other Light­Sport models with thousands of training hours logged are proof that in the hands of quality flightschool operators these fuel­efficient aircraft can be great instructional aircraft.

Video reports and articles like the following unveil the durability of LSA in flight training environments: Kitfox(video); Allegro; Europe­based Remos; and, this general article.