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Hi, my name is Klaus Truemper. This blog reports some ideas  about maintaining and flying a small airplane. Everything is based on experiences with my Zenith 601HDS, N314LB with Rotax 912 engine.

The blog has been running since 2005. I have flown my plane for more than 25 years.

The posts are listed in four sections: Most Popular Posts, Rotax Engine, Maintenance and Tips, and Piloting.


Most Popular Posts


Testing Rotax 912/914 Generator and Voltage Regulator/Rectifier

    












Rotax Engine








Synchronization of Rotax 912 Carburetors




Wrong Oil Pressure of the Rotax 912/914 Engines 


Electric Fuel Pump System for Rotax 912


























Repair/Maintenance and Tips
































Piloting



































































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Popular posts from this blog

Testing Rotax 912/914 Generator and Voltage Regulator/Rectifier

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Our original installation of the Rotax 912/914 r egulator/ r ectifier. 24 years later, the two brown wires on the left were replaced by yellow wires of a new stator, see photo below. The Rotax 912/914 electrical system may fail unexpectedly. I t happened to us once at a really inconvenient time : S ee Rotax Goes South As We Go West . Most likely the electrical failure is caused by the voltage regulator/rectifier.  To ver ify this , we now carry in the plane a small multimeter that measures AC/DC voltage and resistance and use the checklist below. The checklist assumes a standard installation as described in the Rotax installation manual Section 24-00-00, without additional external generator, and that the voltage is not in the normal range. Testing Electrical System Beyond Regulator/Rectifier It is possible, though quite unlikely, that the electrical failure is caused by something other than the generator and regulator/rectifier. There is an almost infinite variety of poss
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Rough Running Rotax 912/914 Engine: Ignition and Exhaust

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We have had seven major causes for rough running of our Rotax 912 engine.  Four of them are covered in this post. They are: fouled plugs, faulty ignition cable, improper grounding of ignition module, and broken exhaust baffle. The remaining three causes are discussed in separate posts:  carburetors not synchronized ,  imprecise propeller pitch , and  worn Belleville washers in the gearbox . Fouled Plugs During most years, we fly almost exclusively using 100 octane low-lead avgas (100LL). Our use of 100LL avgas is not a choice but forced on us: Almost all airports that used to offer automotive gasoline (autogas) have stopped that service.   The term low-lead  for 100LL is an industry ploy to make us feel good. One gallon of fuel contains about 2 grams of lead. That is a large amount compared with the quantity in the leaded automotive gasolines of the 1960s.  The lead problem stems from the fact that in recent decades Continental and Lycoming, the traditional manufacturers of aircraf
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Rotax 912 Engine: 2,300 Hours in 27 Years (achieved in 2022)

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Rotax 912 engine The  Rotax 912 engine  in o ur plane, a Zenith 601HDS, has reached an important milestone. Over the past 27 years, it has run 2,300 hrs without major repairs. Zenith 601HDL, N314LB It's appropriate to reflect about this performance and muse how this is possible. After all, when we bought the engine, in 1994, the suggested TBO was 1,200 hrs.  Since then TBO has gone up, first to 1,600 hrs, and more recently to 2,000 hrs. Of course, those increases apply to later engines, not to our early model. Let's see how the engine performs after all this time. Performance after 2,300 hrs Compression is 76-80 lbs/sq.in. on all cylinders. Oil consumption is less than 1/2 qt per 25 hours.  During each oil change, we cut open the filter and look for metal. There is almost none, just one or two tiny specks. Essentially, the engine shows no sign of wear. The engine performs well up to the legal limit of 14,000 ft MSL for flight without oxygen. When flying
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