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Super Dimona Motorglider in Soaring magazine feb 2004



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 10th 04, 07:38 PM
Mark James Boyd
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Default Super Dimona Motorglider in Soaring magazine feb 2004

Interesting article. Too bad (for US pilots) it uses
the "despised in the US" rotax engine. But this is
a real favorite in Europe, I'm told.

CFR 61.69(a)(1) requires tow pilots to
"Holds at least a private pilot certificate with a category
rating for powered aircraft."

Perhaps the last 7 words should be eliminated so
glider only licensed PPL, self-launch endorsed pilots
can use this aircraft to tow?

It looks a little flimsy for daily tow work, but
if one could convince the insurer to allow instruction
during towing, one could make the tow flight
an instruction flight too...double the customers, right?
  #2  
Old February 10th 04, 09:02 PM
Rod
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Why is the Rotax despised in the U.S.?

Regards,
Rod


  #3  
Old February 10th 04, 09:43 PM
Judy Ruprecht
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At 19:42 10 February 2004, Mark James Boyd wrote:
Interesting article. Too bad (for US pilots) it uses
the 'despised in the US' rotax engine. But this is
a real favorite in Europe, I'm told.


Please note Dick Johnson's article was NOT about the
HK36R Super Dimona, which was issued US Type Certificate
G51EU in July, 1993 and is powered by an 80-hp Rotax
912a.

Dick's article regards a look-alike cousin, issued
US type certificate G07CE in 1997 as an HK36TTC. This
model is powered by a 115-hp turbocharged Rotax 914
F series engine.

Judy




  #4  
Old February 11th 04, 04:55 AM
Mark James Boyd
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In article , Rod wrote:
Why is the Rotax despised in the U.S.?

Regards,
Rod


Ooops...politically correct...

Ummm..."some mechanics in the US are less familiar with
Rotax than the more commonly found Continental and Lycoming
engines popular in many US aircraft"

Or the translation (some mechanic terms may be mungled for
less clarit):

"What are you thinking bringing me this f****r to work on?
I don' have any G*****n parts for it and it'll take six
years and postage from Alaska just to get the m***********g
manual. You couldn't just put in a gool Ol' Cub engine?
This piece of s**t is designed by some b*********g
Swiss watchmaker..."

Often followed by the U.S. mechanic inquiring gently about
your geneology and how your sexual preference may inhibit
your prospects for children and there's probably a
mechanic in Massachusets that could better help you...
  #5  
Old February 11th 04, 05:03 AM
Mark James Boyd
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In article ,
Judy Ruprecht wrote:
At 19:42 10 February 2004, Mark James Boyd wrote:
Interesting article. Too bad (for US pilots) it uses
the 'despised in the US' rotax engine. But this is
a real favorite in Europe, I'm told.


Please note Dick Johnson's article was NOT about the
HK36R Super Dimona, which was issued US Type Certificate
G51EU in July, 1993 and is powered by an 80-hp Rotax
912a.

Dick's article regards a look-alike cousin, issued
US type certificate G07CE in 1997 as an HK36TTC. This
model is powered by a 115-hp turbocharged Rotax 914
F series engine.

Judy


Well, the index in the front of Soaring said:

19 A Flight Test Evaluation of the HK36TTC Super Dimona Motorglider.

and Dean Carswell's page 25 article starts:

"The Diamond Aircraft HK 36TTC Katana Xtreme (marketed in some
parts of the world as the Super Dimona) is a..."



I was unaware there would be any ambiguity (I didn't know
about the other Super Dimona) and thank Judy
for pointing this out.
  #6  
Old February 11th 04, 06:01 AM
BTIZ
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perhaps because previous to the Dimona Motorglider.. they were previously
used on non-certificated aircraft like ultra lights or some small
experimental..

and as a previous poster noted.. most US A&Ps are not used to working on
them

BT

"Rod" wrote in message
...
Why is the Rotax despised in the U.S.?

Regards,
Rod




  #7  
Old February 11th 04, 07:57 AM
Eric Greenwell
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Mark James Boyd wrote:
In article , Rod wrote:

Why is the Rotax despised in the U.S.?

Regards,
Rod



Ooops...politically correct...

Ummm..."some mechanics in the US are less familiar with
Rotax than the more commonly found Continental and Lycoming
engines popular in many US aircraft"

Or the translation (some mechanic terms may be mungled for
less clarit):

"What are you thinking bringing me this f****r to work on?
I don' have any G*****n parts for it and it'll take six
years and postage from Alaska just to get the m***********g
manual. You couldn't just put in a gool Ol' Cub engine?
This piece of s**t is designed by some b*********g
Swiss watchmaker..."


"Despised by mechanics" is quite different from "despised in the US".
Rotaxes are used on gliders like the Stemme and Ximango, and by zillions
of ultralights and amateur built airplanes. Are you sure parts are hard
to get? I've seen thick catalogs for Rotax parts in the US, and a
thousands of hits for "rotax engine parts" on the web, plus repair
station listings.

--
-----
change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

  #8  
Old February 11th 04, 04:31 PM
Mark James Boyd
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Default

In article ,
Eric Greenwell wrote:
Mark James Boyd wrote:
In article , Rod wrote:

Why is the Rotax despised in the U.S.?

Regards,
Rod



Ooops...politically correct...

Ummm..."some mechanics in the US are less familiar with
Rotax than the more commonly found Continental and Lycoming
engines popular in many US aircraft"

Or the translation (some mechanic terms may be mungled for
less clarit):

"What are you thinking bringing me this f****r to work on?
I don' have any G*****n parts for it and it'll take six
years and postage from Alaska just to get the m***********g
manual. You couldn't just put in a gool Ol' Cub engine?
This piece of s**t is designed by some b*********g
Swiss watchmaker..."


"Despised by mechanics" is quite different from "despised in the US".
Rotaxes are used on gliders like the Stemme and Ximango, and by zillions
of ultralights and amateur built airplanes. Are you sure parts are hard
to get? I've seen thick catalogs for Rotax parts in the US, and a
thousands of hits for "rotax engine parts" on the web, plus repair
station listings.

--
-----
change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA


I once again retract my previous post. Nobody anywhere despises
Rotax engines. This was simply wrong and golly, I'm sorry.

So just cut and paste in:

"Some mechanics in the US are less familiar with
Rotax than the more commonly found Continental and Lycoming
engines popular in many US aircraft"


....and I never said parts were hard to find. I'm sure there
are lots of DISassembled Rotax engines all over the U.S...
grin

  #9  
Old February 12th 04, 03:10 AM
Dave Nadler YO
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Default

Super Dimona / Katana whatever its called tows just fine.
Not good for hot and heavy, but not-too-hot and low alt
is just fine. They were used for towing at the Bayreuth
preworlds: no complaints from me in a ballasted standard
glider, some big gliders were unhappy.

Not too flimsy for daily tow, used that way often. Does
require type-specific training (tail-dragger plus glider
negatives, hardly insurmountable).

Hope that helps !
Best Regards, Dave

PS: Anybody who needs a mechanic versed in Rotax 4 strokes
in Massachusetts contact me privately...


(Mark James Boyd) wrote in message news:4029333e$1@darkstar...
Interesting article. Too bad (for US pilots) it uses
the "despised in the US" rotax engine. But this is
a real favorite in Europe, I'm told.

CFR 61.69(a)(1) requires tow pilots to
"Holds at least a private pilot certificate with a category
rating for powered aircraft."

Perhaps the last 7 words should be eliminated so
glider only licensed PPL, self-launch endorsed pilots
can use this aircraft to tow?

It looks a little flimsy for daily tow work, but
if one could convince the insurer to allow instruction
during towing, one could make the tow flight
an instruction flight too...double the customers, right?

  #10  
Old February 13th 04, 10:05 PM
Robert Ehrlich
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Posts: n/a
Default

Mark James Boyd wrote:

Interesting article. Too bad (for US pilots) it uses
the "despised in the US" rotax engine. But this is
a real favorite in Europe, I'm told.


I also despise this Rotax engine, although not being an
US pilot. Since we bought our Super Dimona 5 years ago
we never had a season without engine problem(s). The last
season we spent 26000 euros on repairs/exchange. We had
to hire another Dimona for towing during the long period
we had to wait for the replacement engine. The good news
is that hiring another tug was cheaper than using our
own one, but this opportunity is going to stop as the
owner is selling the plane.

Maybe the Rotax is a very good engine for ultralights,
or even for the Dimona used as a touring motor glider,
but when used as a tug, the stress seems to be to high
for this engine, at least in the conditions of my club
(20 club gliders and 5 private owners using aerotow, we
add the second tug, a Rallye, when more than the half
fleet is waiting for launch). The version of the Super
Dimona used as tug is model HK36 115 TTC (I think the TC
means turbo charged). The maximum time during which
the full power (115 HP) is allowed is 5 minutes, but during
a good soaring day, each flight is a 5 minutes climb at full
power followed by 1 minute descent and landing, and I can
understand that the engine doesn't like that.
 




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