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An RV-12 with a 115 hp Rotax 914 maybe?

PabloSniper

PabloSniper

Active Member
Hello gentlemen, I recently saw this RV-12 with an alternative 130 hp engine.
And then I thought, why not a more powerful Rotax maybe?


Besides the RV-12s with the 120 hp Jabiru engine, is there any information about one with the Rotax 914?
 
Interesting video, I am not sure 120 knots at WOT (5540 rpm) burning 7.3 gph is a great achievement in an RV-12 vs the standard 912iS engine. A 914 with the turbo would not be an economical choice. I think better alternative engine choices for the RV-12 would be UL Power 260iS or 350i/iS or an Edge Performance EP-912i-G2.
 
12vaitor said:
Interesting video, I am not sure 120 knots at WOT (5540 rpm) burning 7.3 gph is a great achievement in an RV-12 vs the standard 912iS engine. A 914 with the turbo would not be an economical choice. I think better alternative engine choices for the RV-12 would be UL Power 260iS or 350i/iS or an Edge Performance EP-912i-G2.
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A copy of a Rotax 914, for the price of a Rotax 912 maybe?

1764883270034.png
 
The main advantage of the 914 is not the extra horsepower but the power at altitude. Turbocharging a twin carb engine is a compromise. Fuel metering is even more inexact. I have not flown behind a 914, but I know one manufacturer of a very fast efficient rotax powered model who no longer offers the 914 as an option.

Why consider a 914 when a much more capable 915/16 engine is available. The extra cost would more than be worth the trouble free experience.
 
flightdoc101 said:
Bear in mind that higher true airspeeds would put you in the "test pilot" category. Dick Van G has stated that the airframe is not designed for sustained airspeeds above 120 kts.
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Good point. I don't take the RV-12 above 10,000 feet very often, but I did the other day, and I was surprised by how close my IAS got to the red line (or, I should say, by how close the red line got to my IAS, because it goes down as you climb higher).

This is like the often-debated question of putting high-horsepower engines into RV-9s. You buy yourself better takeoff and climb performance, and you cruise a little faster (which Mosaic now allows for Sport Pilots, and will soon allow for S-LSAs). However, you gotta keep an eye on the airspeed, especially while descending. This issue is not unheard-of in the RV world, as we know (and it has been a thing ever since doctors started over-speeding their Bonanzas back in the day).
 
flightdoc101 said:
Bear in mind that higher true airspeeds would put you in the "test pilot" category. Dick Van G has stated that the airframe is not designed for sustained airspeeds above 120 kts.
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Where has he said that? I often (slightly) exceed 120 kias in a descent - the 120 knot LSA figure is for level flight cruise speed, not an absolute limit.

Vne, however, is only 136 and I don't want to mess with that. As usual, if you want a significantly different engine, you're designing a different airplane.
 
I'm trying to figure out the focus of this thread. What are we considering here? More power, speed and complexity in our little bug smashers??

Why? It's pretty good the way it is. Instead of an alternate engine consider an alternate airplane designed for the speed.
 
Putting a more powerful engine into an airframe not designed for it is pushing the envelope in a lot of areas. Why do it? If you want more speed, better to choose an aircraft that's designed for it.
 
AirShowFan said:
Good point. I don't take the RV-12 above 10,000 feet very often, but I did the other day, and I was surprised by how close my IAS got to the red line (or, I should say, by how close the red line got to my IAS, because it goes down as you climb higher).

This is like the often-debated question of putting high-horsepower engines into RV-9s. You buy yourself better takeoff and climb performance, and you cruise a little faster (which Mosaic now allows for Sport Pilots, and will soon allow for S-LSAs). However, you gotta keep an eye on the airspeed, especially while descending. This issue is not unheard-of in the RV world, as we know (and it has been a thing ever since doctors started over-speeding their Bonanzas back in the day).
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I have been to 11,500 with my 12. At the speed a 12 flies it is a bit sluggish on control stick inputs at that altitude. I would hate to encounter even moderate turbulence in that environment. I believe it might be quite the rodeo and was not tempted to attempt practice stalls even in the calm.
 
Flying with 2 adults and the dog on a Sensenich 2 blade prop, 912ULS. The performance and economy are even better when I fly alone. The engine and airframe are a very good combination, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to change it.
TAS - 119 kts

IMG_9716.jpeg
 
Tony_T said:
I'm trying to figure out the focus of this thread. What are we considering here? More power, speed and complexity in our little bug smashers??

Why? It's pretty good the way it is. Instead of an alternate engine consider an alternate airplane designed for the speed.
Click to expand...
The only point to putting a 115-140 HP engine in an RV-12 would be for better climb performance at near gross weight or someone operating at high DAs. There are several engines in the 100-110 HP class that have lower acquisition costs than the current Van's 912iS engine package at $50,000. The UL Power 260iS (107hp) and ZD CD500i (100hp Rotax 912iS clone @ $23,500) are good examples of trading a longer build time for saving a few thousand dollars. If your deal is saving money the ZD CD500 Rotax 912ULS clone at $16,500 would be a good starting place. The first thing you should look at is engine weight and CG, not HP, in deciding if the engine package will work on an RV-12. Currently, I think the best alternative RV-12 engine is the Edge Performance EP912i_Gen2 ($35,000) at 108 HP and 20 lbs lighter than a 912iS.
 
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