Part 1

This discussion is going to focus on a topic that will undoubtedly have Rotax engine owners on both sides of the fence, both for and against in a major discussion, but I hope to instill a sense of “Doing things right and for the right reason” and without all the worry some seem to have over this solid and sound maintenance practice. As you can see from the last few words in the last sentence this article will focus on the positives and good maintenance practice and hopefully get away from the all encompassing “Don’t fix it if it isn’t broke” concept. I do believe that some items are fine to be on a condition inspection or even wait until it wears out, but those are not flight safety issues or will they present a hazard when they fail. Planes in general and the hose change cost money , I’ll be the first to admit that, but you decided to fly and now you need to ask yourself what your life and your passenger’s life is worth and do you want to spend a little money now and keep safe and flying or spend a lot later and be grounded?

Part 2

For those who have decided that they will do a Rotax 5 year rubber replacement we need to look at what it covers and how we can utilize good sterile maintenance practices to keep debris from our hose lines. I will admit that there is more than one way to accomplish this procedure and what will be discussed in this article is, but one way.

The Rotax 5 year rubber replacement covers all fuel, oil and coolant lines. It covers any V-belt, carburetor diaphragm and carburetor rubber intake sockets and any other air intake rubber hose or tubing. With the new maintenance manual just out the fuel pump has been added as a replacement item too. So now you need to decide what brand hose you are going to use. Should it be fuel injection hose or standard carburetor hose? Since we are dealing with a worldwide distribution for engines the hose selection can be vast, but by all means should be thought out. We need to decide what tools we are going to use to cut the hose and how we are going to secure it in place. These again will vary depending on your geographical location.