"Alan" wrote in message ...
The plane and all of its components (including the engine) must
be certified for that as well. It appears that the common versions
of the Rotax engine are prohibited from night or IFR use by the
instructions from Rotax.

I spoke with Phil Lockwook (generally considered the goto guy when it
involves Rotax) at Hartford Expo about the Rotax's night VFR prohibitions
published in their online engine manuals. He surprised me with a claim that
Rotax had recently lifted that night VFR prohibition on their 912 series
engines (I only asked about the 100hp, I didn't ask about the 912 80hp), and
he also mentioned that it may retro back to a specific earlier serial
number. I did not follow this up for written confirmation, but it may be of
interest for you.