A question for the group:
I am about to start building a motorglider monowheel and have just spoken to
another person with an airplane powered by a rotax engine. He has the 80 HP
912 and sings the praises of how good it is. For me, the mission of the
glider plane will be to fly high for maximum glide options should the engine
fail and I also live at higher elevation - 4700 MSL. For this reason, I have
been planning on the 914 for the turbo power and higher cruise power at the
very high cruise altitudes I am planning . I have, in the past, always
avoided turbo engines, opting for more reliable no turbo engines (such as my
twin Comanche with IO320's). I want to break that trend with the Europa. The
bad news is this person informed me that the 914 is a "temperamental" engine
and some people he has spoken with have been glad to change from the 914 to
912 for more reliability. Now my engine selection is beginning to waver. So
my question:
What is the experience of actual 914 operators out there that are reading
this email? If there are problems with the engine, what sort of problems are
they and can they be avoided by proper operation and maintenance? I am
wondering if the engine can be operated as a "normalized" engine by not using
full power for takeoff and only boosting it back to sea level power.
Thanks,
Dave Anderson
Gardnerville,
Nevada
A227
starting the kit on about 10 Oct, 2001.
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