Cessna developing new LSA

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
newsjVhg.22591$1i1.13638@attbi_s72...
Nah. Bad mistake. It still uses a Rotax, which "I" will avoid like the
plague.

Why? It started easily, ran very smoothly, and sipped gas.

What's wrong with Rotax?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


There is a reason pilots that fly Rotax power are usually nicknamed 'Dead
Stick.'

There is a reason pilots that fly Rotax power are usually nicknamed 'Dead
Stick.'

A former co-worker and hangar neighbor had two engine failures in his Rotax
powered Rans S-10. He only survived one of them, though..

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?...LA268& akey=1

On 2006-06-08, Dave Stadt wrote:
There is a reason pilots that fly Rotax power are usually nicknamed 'Dead
Stick.'

That's really a problem inherent to all two-strokes though. The four
stroke Rotaxes seem perfectly reliable. The Europa crowd around here
seem to get on very well with the 912 and 914S for a power plant - seems
just as reliable as a Lycontisauraus Rex (and uses less fuel).

--
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"Dylan Smith" wrote in message
...
On 2006-06-08, Dave Stadt wrote:
There is a reason pilots that fly Rotax power are usually nicknamed 'Dead
Stick.'

That's really a problem inherent to all two-strokes though. The four
stroke Rotaxes seem perfectly reliable. The Europa crowd around here
seem to get on very well with the 912 and 914S for a power plant - seems
just as reliable as a Lycontisauraus Rex (and uses less fuel).

--
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Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

Then why did Diamond dump Rotax in favor of Continental. Besides being
unreliable Rotax has nearly no after sale customer support. Fly into Podunk
and try to get a Rotax fixed. The 4 strokes by Rotax I have been around
have been anything but reliable.

On 2006-06-09, Dave Stadt wrote:
Then why did Diamond dump Rotax in favor of Continental.

The Continental engine is much more powerful - 125hp IIRC. That little
85 hp engine was never enough for the Katana. The issue of a very
conservative US market which won't buy anything other than
Lyc/Continental probably didn't help, and as you point out the
lack of decent after sales service in the US just compounded the problem.

We'll probably see the same thing with Thierlert - they will do well in
Europe but despite burning half the fuel of a Lycontisaurus, probably
won't sell at all in the US.

Kept properly maintained (just like any other 4 stroke engine), the 4
stroke Rotaxes are reliable.

--
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Dylan Smith wrote:

On 2006-06-09, Dave Stadt wrote:

Then why did Diamond dump Rotax in favor of Continental.


The Continental engine is much more powerful - 125hp IIRC. That little
85 hp engine was never enough for the Katana. The issue of a very
conservative US market which won't buy anything other than
Lyc/Continental probably didn't help, and as you point out the
lack of decent after sales service in the US just compounded the problem.

It isn't a "conservative US market", it is the lack of an overall better
product. The same was said about Japanese cars in the 70s. Nobody
would ever buy Japanese cars. Well, you don't hear that much now. They
got their act together and made a better product. There is certainly a
time lag as folks catch on to the product being better, but Rotax has
been around long enough to overcome that ... if only they had a better
product.


Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
Dylan Smith wrote:

On 2006-06-09, Dave Stadt wrote:

Then why did Diamond dump Rotax in favor of Continental.


The Continental engine is much more powerful - 125hp IIRC. That little 85
hp engine was never enough for the Katana. The issue of a very
conservative US market which won't buy anything other than
Lyc/Continental probably didn't help, and as you point out the lack of
decent after sales service in the US just compounded the problem.

It isn't a "conservative US market", it is the lack of an overall better
product. The same was said about Japanese cars in the 70s. Nobody would
ever buy Japanese cars. Well, you don't hear that much now. They got
their act together and made a better product. There is certainly a time
lag as folks catch on to the product being better, but Rotax has been
around long enough to overcome that ... if only they had a better product.

And if they had anything approaching a support network.

Matt

You must be thinking of 2 stroke rotax's. The 4 strokes are very
reliable. Lots of 2 strokes of different makes deadstick, mostly due to
old fuel.

"John T" wrote in message
...
You must be thinking of 2 stroke rotax's. The 4 strokes are very reliable.
Lots of 2 strokes of different makes deadstick, mostly due to old fuel.

Yep, the two strokes are "very" unreliable. The 4 strokes are "just"
unreliable.

Do some looking around, out there in cyberspace. There are plenty of folks
that have had bad experiences with the 4 strokes.
--
Jim in NC