Not sure this answers Scott’s point in para 3 of post 21 above??
The truth to this is that we are not the manufacturer of the Thermostasis. Nor do I know to what exact extent the Thermostasis unit has been tested in regards to the NEW Rotax requirements for the 912ULS engine. I am awaiting more information on that from the manufacturer.
What I do find interesting in the Rotax manual is the following statement
"When operating at low temperatures, installation of an oil thermostat, parallel to the oil cooler is highly recommended"
Given that statement in the manual....and the fact that a lot of RV12 aircraft are being operated in cold weather environments, I can only assume that Vans is working on releasing a thermostat installation to be 100% compliant.
Is that correct, Scott?
I do know that at the time the Thermostasis was designed it complied with known Rotax restrictions. I also know that there are many many units flying on many different aircraft types all over the world. Every response I have ever heard about the unit has been positive. That doesn't mean that it is compliant with the new Rotax manual...just that in real world experience it seems to work well.
Though we are not involved with the manufacture or design of the unit, we have helped with many Thermostat installations by providing hose assemblies to hook the units up to the engine. We have one on our RV-12 and love it. That's the beauty of these airplanes. Some may want to use duct tape on an oil cooler. Others want a bit more of a "refined" solution. Neither is wrong or right. Personally, I would never go back as the benefits of the Thermostat in all aspects of cold weather operations far exceed any potential drawbacks IMHO.
The Rotax 912iS engine has very detailed and specific design requirements regarding the installation on an airframe.
A huge amount of engineering effort was invested to assure the RV-12iS meets all of the installation requirements stipulated by Rotax, and then compliance of the installation was proven with detailed testing.
New information is always good, as it leads to product improvement and additional testing. With that said, the more paperwork that exists, the less likely it is to be 100% compliant with any specific installation manual.
Here is an example that jumps out at me. The new RV12iS oil hoses being shipped by Vans are Stratoflex 124-8 hoses. They have a minimum ID of .406". In the 912iS installation manual, it specifies a minimum ID of .430 inches. Now, I do not think that this is any issue at all. .406 +/- a few thousandths is very close to the spec of nearly all standard -8 conductive Teflon hose assemblies. Our -8 hoses are an ID a few thousandths larger and Aeroquip 666 hoses are the same as the Stratoflex hose. This may seem like a minor issue (and it is), but it is not 100% compliant.
At some point, I think you have to trust the manufacturer and their reputation. Van's builds a great airplane. I don't think that the RV12iS engines are about to start failing because the ID of the hose Vans supplies is .024" smaller than what the Rotax manual says they should be.
This is definitely an interesting discussion.