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Old June 17th 04, 06:04 PM
Dennis Fetters
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KB,
Thank you for your well spoken opinion. Opinions are always welcome when
put across in a civilized professional manner as you have done. I with
more people had your manners.


Kyle Boatright wrote:
Dennis,

Your statement "the trouble has never been that one of our Rotax powered
engines quit because it failed from over excursion (sic)" may be correct,
but I doubt that you have the tear-down reports and expert knowledge to
*prove* the claim.



Actually, I personally attended the advanced Rotax engine maintenance
and installation courses in Vernon BC Canada, along with later sending
several of my employees to the school. I was the first human to fly a
Rotax powered Gyroplane, and I received the first 532 Rotax ever shipped
to the aviation industry, and the first to fly a 532 Rotax on any kind
of aircraft. I'm the one that showed Rotax the way to cool the liquid
cooled engines at 160F when they said it was OK to run them at 210F.
They sent me their first 582 rotax and I was the first to fly it in any
type of aircraft. They sent me the first engines because they knew I
could make them work and report back when something needed to be
changed. When ever there was a problem I was the one that inspected the
engines, and I did this many, many times. In almost all cases it was not
the engines fault, that is after Rotax overcome a few unforeseen startup
problems.
I have plenty of knowledge about Rotax engines and how to make them work
and what makes them fail.


To me, the bigger issue is the one Rich alluded to - 2
stroke engines are notoriously unreliable compared to their 4 stroke
cousins. ALL of the ultralight guys I know with more than a couple of
hundred hours behind 2 strokes have suffered engine events. Seized engines,
partially seized engines, exhaust failures that lead to power loss, etc.
Because of the reliability issue, 2 stroke engines are simply not suitable
for helicopter power plants. You know that, as does anyone else who is
familiar with the history of 2 stroke engines.



There is a reason. I have found over my years of working and flying
Rotax, that literally 98% of all Rotax engine failures is installation.
Even today, here at my airport people bring their airplane or
helicopters to me when their Rotax has a problem. In every case it has
been installation problems, either designed wrong by the factory or
modified by the builder. In every case after I rebuild the engine I must
redesign the engine mounting and cooling system. In every case that
airplane or helicopter performs better, runs cooler and has no further
problems.

How many times have you seen someone cook a Rotax engine, send it in and
have it rebuilt, and put it back in the aircraft without changing the
installation? About every time! Well, what should you then expect to
happen? The engine quits again, duh! Stupid Rotax!! This is from many
factory designed installations that are poorly conceived, and customers
that fail to follow instructions. Think about it. This dude spends years
building an airplane kit, gets the airframe done and it looks beautiful!
But then he gets impatient and ****-installs the engine because he wants
to go fly now. How many times have I seen this happen!

The engine will only run as good as the installation and maintenance
performed. Period. Same goes for a 4 stroke, but since 4 strokes are
more expensive and fewer they seem to be more respected and more care is
provided.


Now, if you wanted to build and fly your own 2 stroke powered heli, that's
fine, but kitting the thing and selling it to the dumb masses just isn't
right. Presumably, the target buyer for a 2 stroke powered kit helicopter
is either a big-time risk taker or is simply ignorant of the risks involved.

KB



With hindsight being 20-20, I find it hard to argue that point. The
2-stroke Rotax in a Mini-500 has and is functioning very well with those
that properly install it with the proper jetting and PEP exhaust, and
operate and maintain it as designed. The problem has been with, as you
call it, the "dumb masses". It was defiantly wrong of me to think that
ordinary people had the ability and discipline to properly build, fly
and apply maintenance to a helicopter. The fault had not been the
helicopter, because it even today performs just fine, but in the hands
of most people it is beyond their reach.

I provided an affordable helicopter kit that would perform as our
factory ships performed if assembled correctly, maintained and
modifications added as ours were. I provided excellent instructions, up
do date web site, news letters, AD notifications and daily assistance on
the phone. I provided constant factory testing and developments to keep
ahead. We held the tail rotor gearboxes from customers until they
provided proof of instruction, and so on. We had factory maintenance and
building courses and offered free inspections to anyone that came to the
factory or an airshow with their Mini-500. We did more than any factory
I know of to help the customer succeed.

I did everything I could think of, and many things other people thought
of to make a successful project. We make a great kit helicopter, the
best ever made. The opportunity was there for anyone that wanted it, the
American way. We made it available to those that thought they had the
right stuff to build and fly a helicopter, and at an affordable price.
It was in their choice if they thought they could do it, we tried to
filter out the ones we knew couldn't, but that was all we could do.
Mostly, people were successful, but it only took a few bad apples to
give people like Fred Stewart and his coolies the ammunition they needed
to succeed in helping to shut our factory down, but only after 2 long
years of fighting.

Now, am I to blame for others that failed to follow instructions, made
modifications and flying stupid, resulting in a crash? decide for
yourself. I really don't care what people think. I know what I did and I
know how I feel about it. That is all that matters. And if anyone of you
think you could do it better, don't just talk about it, prove it.

Sincerely,

Dennis Fetters