Thread: Rotax update school

Hi All,

Remember when you read this, Don't shoot the messenger!
I had to go, too.

Back from the first Rotax update school in the nation at CPS in California. Here are some interesting items.
If you have to attend a Rotax update school don't bother studying like I did because nothing on the three test had anything to do with the specs and was taught in the refresher class. So be a good listener. Three 10 question test and you have to get at least 8 correct on each. There is a general test, a service test and a line maint. test. It is an all day class and all lecture. Here is the big item I learned.
The update class does not re-certify you for heavy maint. You have to take the heavy maint 3 day class all over every 2 years for the heavy re-certification. The reason for this is darn few people ever do the heavy maint, but when it is needed then it is indispensable. Each Rotax mechanic will have to take a refresher update class to continue to work on a Rotax engine if he wants the heavy certification. Now before anyone goes off on this, remember that a regular A&P or A/I has to have a refresher class every two years also and if that A&P doesn't work for over 6 months he is technically not certified any longer. So the SLSA industry is really no different than the GA side and they are trying to make sure everyone stays safe because we fly to the same places and mix with the same people around the world even if we fly SLSA. The FAA, Rotax and Jabiru are trying to make sure the appropriate people work on SLSA engines. Remember that no where in an A&P school did the GA A&P get any Rotax or Jabiru specific training as he did Continental or Lycoming, not to mention many GA A&P's worked under someone for years to get their knowledge after getting their A&P license.
So what this means is that anyone working on an SLSA no matter what their title will have to attend a Rotax school and everyone will have to attend the update class every two years or you will loose that right to work on a Rotax. Don't flip out on Rotax because Jabiru has the same training. You will be limited to what you can work on depending on what level of class you take, i.e. service, Line maint or Heavy maint.. For the FD CT guys the manual says you can do an engine inspection if you follow the Rotax manual and the Rotax manual says you can do an inspection with just the service class, but you can not repair or replace engine components with only the service level class. You can do oil and plugs and a few other things for those who are worried.
The problem here is that we as an LSA group around the nation haven't done as good a job as we could have when it comes to policing ourselves and doing the right thing when maint was required. Some of the problems have been people that think they don't have to follow any bodies rules, but most have been educational issues. This forum has done a good job keeping people up to date on this subject. There have been a few problems. I did here while in class one GA A&P that signed off on an SLSA without the training had his license suspend for 1 year and another A&P was fined $3K. A&P's or mechanics will usually always get fined more than an owner because the FAA holds them to a higher knowledge standard. Mechanics went to school and are supposed to keep up better and have the training to know better.

To put this in the right frame of mind Rotax, Jabiru and the FAA are trying to keep the LSA aircraft from having more than their fair share of maint issues and crashes and trying to raise the education level for everyone.

The only thing that has changed here in all this was that Rotax wants people to take the Heavy maint course again for that certification every two years. Every thing else about who can work on an SLSA is the same as it always has been.



Just a idea,
If you don't want to go to Rotax school and you love your GA A&P then pay his way to a Rotax school then he'll be able to do it all.

Roger, thanks for taking the time to send this out. I imagine that there needs to be a decent volume of Rotax repairs in order to justify the cost and time required to obtain and maintain a Heavy Rotax repair certification. I have not needed repair for my engine so I'm not sure if there are any Rotax heavy repair mechanics here in the S.E. area of Michigan or Northern Ohio. I'll have to check this out. Leading Edge in Wisconsin is a Rotax heavy repair center but this is a long flight across Lake Michigan for me.

Roger, et al: I also echo thanks for highlighting a serious problem within the LSA community, maintenance. Prior to taking delivery of our CTLS, I took 32 (4 days of training on the Rotax and its servicing) and the Lockwood's instruction excellent by any standard. I gained some knowledge of the engine I would be flying, its care and update, but I darn sure was not a mechanic--notwithstanding the course certification. Taking the courses was a very good idea for some one who never flew anything but conventional GA aircraft (amd military F-4s, B-52s) as it was great background--but, again I say it did not make me qualified to be a maintenance man.

I, like most CT owners, am not a trained maintenance man and I do not have years of intensive work experience, simply put--I rely on career "fixers" like Roger and the bunch at Lockwood for keeping my CT in the air. Now having said that, I will again take the Rotax classes and an airframe course to increase my knowledge so that I can more accurately explain my problems to the expert. However, in relying on the career guys, now that I have a hanger I can and will do stuff like oil changes, plugs. and the like. A retired friend has an A&P and he can do more than I and he is willing to help me. None the less, I think the re-doing of the classes is a good requirement and will, or should, foster the development of more career maintenance folks. I am simply more comfortable consigning maintenance of our plane to someone who knows what he or she is doing, but at the same time as I get more technically knowledgable, I can help the fixing process when it is needed. Here I draw more on military experience than anything else, in that my responsibility was to fly and to others fell the responsibility ensure the plane was maintained for me to fly. I have basically used this system as a GA flyer. However, because the CT and other LSA are relatively new we have to be more willing to get our hands dirty, or at least get knowledgeable enought to acdurately tell the maintenance person what is happening. So, I say thanks again to Roger Lee.

We just got N840KN back after 3 and a half months of down time after a wall fell down and damaged it. So as a hanger unexpectedly came available, we jumped at it--now we have a $1,000+ pile of covers in one corner, but it really helps. So we are back.

Thanks, Ken and Nancy Nolde, N840KN 280 hours