Going to Sebring, Florida-based Lockwood Aero’s Rotax engine school for a week—eight full hours per day with homework that begins weeks before you get there—seems daunting. For me that effort was worth it to extensively learn about the popular Rotax 912 ULS and 912 iS aircraft engines, and how to maintain and operate them.
If you build, fly or plan to do any work on a Rotax 912-powered aircraft, this hands-on course may be worth it to you, too. Here is a field report after successfully completing the courses.
COURSE OFFERINGS
The folks at Lockwood Aero, including course instructor and Lockwood’s technical director, Dean Vogel, have been doing this a long time and have earned a respected reputation as a premier Rotax support shop.
Because of Lockwood’s well-prepared curriculum prep that begins before you even arrive to class, I was able to hit the ground sprinting. The three separate courses I completed are designed to be taken together successively in the same week, but you can also take just one or two in that week, as some students did. I even did some flying in a Rotax-powered Van’s RV-12 while there.
Two of the three courses offer the two-year Independent Rotax Maintenance Technician (IRMT) certification (upon successful completion—you are tested at the end). The three courses—focused on the Rotax 912 ULS and 912 iS engines—include the 9 Series Service (two days at $695 with two-year IRMT certification), 9 Series Maintenance (two days at $695 with two-year IRMT certification) and the 9 Series Injected Installation course (one day at $365). Heads up that if you’re researching the courses on your own, it’s easy to become confused because Lockwood is connected to a few external websites (listed at the end of this article) and these overlap with Lockwood’s course descriptions and schedules. Call Lockwood (863-655-6229) for clarification.
The 9 Series Service course was true to the Lockwood website description, which states that the typically small class (maximum is 16) is designed for technicians, owners and homebuilders, as myself, who are more hands-on with their aircraft. To give you an idea of my experience (aside from taking apart my dad’s lawnmower and snowblower engines!), I’m an aircraft homebuilder and our EAA Chapter 166 in Connecticut is building an Rotax 912 ULS-powered RV-12. I’m also a high school Tech Ed teacher and we’re building a Rotax 912 iS-powered RV-12 at our high school. For me, this training seemed like a perfect fit for what I need to accomplish.
PRO-LEVEL LEARNING
We all came with different backgrounds and skill levels, but instructor Dean Vogel made all the different learning levels work so that nobody was bored or drowning. If we needed extra explanations (me), there were opportunities outside of the classroom time to address it. Vogel, a former F-15 jock, has a unique and engaging teaching style that comes from many years of experience. I met him at AirVenture a few years ago and set out to be one of his students.
Nearly every time he needed to make a point about why something had to be done a very particular way, he would walk over to his secret cabinet of failures and produce a twisted, color-coded (burned) piece of metal that might have been a connecting rod at one time. Dean would say again and again, “Oh, did I mention that these engines do not like oil starvation?” There was a ruined component for every story, or so it seemed. That experience is valuable and sharing it is priceless.
The first day of this first course began with the design philosophy of the Rotax as an aircraft engine, and while we did explore the engines (912 ULS and 912 iS) on stands and did a few field trips downstairs to the shop to see engines on flying aircraft, the hands-on was limited to removing a few items to understand how they worked and/or to offer a better view of other engine components. Our second day, and all the others, would be much more eventful and challenging.
On day two of the 9 Series Service course, we practiced changing the oil and cleaning the oil tank, and discussed the extra care needed when using 100LL in Rotax engines because of the lead deposits. The process is clear and we performed every step. We also synchronized the carburetors on one of the test bed aircraft. I’ve heard and read so many different methods for this, ranging from the good, the bad and the ugly. But as I learned, if you take your time and use the correct tools and equipment, it is a relatively simple process and it makes a huge difference in the performance of the engine.
With the groundwork and routines we’ll established, we continued day three and four with our 9 Series Maintenance course. We discussed our plan and rationale, then began disassembling our Rotax 912 ULS. This was exciting to experience as we kept in mind the critical nature of working on an aircraft engine, while also realizing that we would have to reassemble it, although not quite to airworthiness standards in order to save time. For example, we did not, in most cases, torque fasteners, but reviewed where and how to look up all the specs. This brings to mind the most challenging part of my Rotax training.
While we are given all necessary manuals digitally (over 2000 pages), it took me some time to adjust and learn the logic of how the Rotax manuals are labeled and organized. Rotax, after all, is not a U.S. company and uses a few different standards in terms of technical language and nomenclature. Eventually, I caught on with the help of Vogel and classmates. The constant discussions, “what if” questions and the overall real learning that went on was inspiring and still gives me confidence knowing that I can do this on my own. Many others echoed the same experience.
OUT WITH THE CARBS
And into fuel injection with the 912iS. That was the focus of the 9 Series Injected Installation course, which starts by comparing the differences of the 912 ULS and the 912 iS.
We disassembled and reassembled the top of the engine, which included the fuel and intake systems. This is not a small task, but critically important to know, especially when considering the engine’s installation on a variety of aircraft models.
Turns out this was a great way to end the training because it brought in much of what we learned about the 912 ULS to the fuel-injected 912 iS. Plus, those learning experiences allowed us to ask more questions (and learn more) as we worked on the 912 iS.
Overall, the class left with confidence to maintain their own (or others’) Rotax 912 engines. Yes, this was an intense learning experience and I’m still processing some of what I learned. Still, I’m confident to open the crate and take apart our brand-new Rotax 912 ULS—and put it all back together—thanks to the high-quality training I got from Lockwood.
Visit www.lockwood.aero and www.rotaxirmt.com.
