Well, it seems the long awaited Rotax 915is is slowly coming out of the shadows. Apparently Rotax has been quietly working with quite a few aircraft manufacturers who are integrating the new 915iS. ByDanJohnson.com recently announced some of the latest developments.

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Rotax agreed not to make public which airframe makers are investigating the new powerplant — doing so could affect their present-day sales and most may not want to answer customer inquiries about a project still in relatively early development. However, aircraft engines manager Marc Becker noted, "You will find that quite a few of them already announced it themselves so that it has become public information anyway," He identified several companies doing so: BRM Aero, Nogaro, Tecnam, Nikki, Zlin Aviation, Blackwing," and perhaps others as of this post time. "In total we have more than 40 OEMs started to incorporate the engine into their design, while the rest have not yet publicly announced their work."

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Here's what early Bristell test flying showed:
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• Maximum Cruise: 280 km/h — 175 mph — 152 knots
• Eco (lower fuel consuming) Cruise: 260 km/h — 163 mph — 141 knots
• Fuel Burn in Eco mode: 23 liters/hour — 6 gallons per hour
• Fuel Translation: 27.16 statute miles per gallon at 163 mph

This should make an interesting powerplant for a lot of people. The RANS S-7 Courier, S-20 Raven, and S-21 Outback, the twin engined AirCam, the Zenith 750 series Cruzer & STOL, and the Bearhawk LSA, are just a few which come to mind

OSH 2017 should be quite interesting for all the ROTAX fans.

6 GPM, in "ECO" mode? Interesting. I'd call that GAS HOG mode. The price you pay for more power I guess.

My 912S, at 2034 hrs TT, is starting to show it's age, it's starting to nickel and dime me to death, I've been fighting an oil leak. Just a few drops on the hangar floor, not enough to tell on the dipstick. Since I had the prop off (removing it made it a lot easier to ship the gearbox off for a scheduled inspection) I cleaned off the engine real good and right before pushing the plane outside, and tying the tail down prior to running it up, I realized I could just fire it up right in the hangar, weird.

Once running, (it runs fine without a prop on, go figure) it was easy enough to sidle up (damn weird though, walking into the usual prop arc, with no ill effects) and eyeball things while looking for the leak. The seepage is coming from the oil pump, where it bolts on the case. Easy to get at, and a few O rings (from CAT, not from ROTAX, as per BigBore engine guru Hal Stockman's advice) and I'll be back in business (never out really, been flying it). Total cost: $0.00, Hal sent me them free.

While I have the cowl off, I will replace all the oil lines, using Summit Racing 300 degree rated hose and fuel injector clamps (smooth, they don't chew the hose when tightened, although the standard ones I used before worked just fine), and probably the Car Quest/Gates auto radiator hose, changing the fluid out as I do it of course. Fuel lines, again using the Summit Racing stuff, besides the high temp rating it's also lightweight.

So, the ongoing maintenance expenses are really adding up, after only 11 years and 2034 hrs., I will be spending 4, maybe as much as 5 hundred dollars , including the gearbox 1000 hour inspection and new Bellvue washers for it). Sure it's been totally reliable, but this money pit of an engine has me looking around for a cheaper to maintain alternative. In the meantime I'll keep dumping money into it, and see if I can make it to double the 2000 hr TBO, 4000 hrs., especially after the expense of this recent work, it's the least I would expect

Cool, can't wait to see it. I heard they were gonna be pushing $30K?????

It's nice to see the innovation, but their market isn't being driven by aircraft that carry passengers, thus the heavy price tag. Good of them to think of us, though.

Well, that was good for a laugh Tom! I totally agree that these engines are a money pit. Even though I have put a lot into mine to get it running well, I guess it isn't close to the money and labor expenses I need to pay to keep my certified plane running. At least with my Rotax, I can easily do the work without having to pay a mechanic, especially since I am fairly mechanically inclined.

Speaking of leaks, I always drain my fuel during the winter since I don't usually fly the Rans much in the frigid cold months. Besides, I don't like using stale auto fuel. I recently had my gear box gone through, removed, cleaned and replaced the carbs, and radiator lines. Was waiting on a couple of parts but decided I would postpone replacing the fuel and oil lines until next year. I had filled my tanks up so I could do a run up and synch the carbs one of these days, low and behold, I walked into my hangar yesterday to see several gallons of fuel had leaked out!!! It was leaking from the rear fuel line grommet. Thankfully it was the rear one and not the one that I cannot get at with out removing the wing. I drilled out the rivets at the rear of the windshield to lift it up enough to get at the area. Since I had this same problem with the 'fuel capapicty' line years ago, I happened to have a couple of spare grommets in my stash. I may as well replace both rear tank grommets since the other side appears to have a slight weep also.

Denal,

Wow, that is some pretty amazing performance in the Bristell. I had looked at the Bristell at Oshkosh a few years ago, along with the Sling and they are very nice planes. I personally prefer a high wing though, mainly for visibility.