Totally agree, one of my first flights was in an X-Air with the 582 engine, 2 people on a hot summer afternoon. Grass runway was 400 meters long and we used like 300-350!! Got a bit nervous, also the climb rate was sluggish. Airfield at an elevation of 1200ft, temperature 33 celsius with high humidity 😂
Very useful video but, as you point out, the takeaway has to be nominal power available vs aircraft weight and density altitude. The video, instead of naming the Rotax 582, could have been titled "Is 65HP good for light sport aircraft" Excellent videos with useful information - thanks! Keep it up!
You really need to go back and check out the original Aero Design's "Pulsar" by Mark Brown. It was based on the 582, composite construction and professionally designed & engineered. It performed extremely well and a number were built and flown. Later, the option for the 80 hp Rotor 912 was developed and even later the 100 hp was installed. Also, check out his article on "2-stroke vs. 4-stroke" in the EAA Sport Aviation archives. Food for thought.
Your Kitfox 3 will be as bad as the 2 stroke Bushbaby under the same conditions (both share the same wing profile). Did you ever take off from an airfield at a DA altitude of 8000 to 10,000 feet? Everything is different 30% less power and much less lift due to the thin air and much less cooling (you really need to control the throttle in a 2stroke to avoid damage). My airfield in Europe is at 560 feet altitude and I also fly in South Africa at an airfield with an elevation of 5600 feet. My plane in Europe and in SA are almost the same (KFA Explorer and KFA Safari) but although the Safari got a Turbo which compensates the DA and has 15 more horses, the performance difference in terms of take off is massive. Also, if you fly at 8000 feet but 7500 AGL is not the same as flying 8000 feet and 500 AGL. If you got there a downdraft, that really gives you the creeps. I am a seaplane pilot too. Try to take off on a hot day on the Titicaca Lake and you will wait ages to get airborne, if at all. You need a much higher ground speed to take off than on sea level.
Good info maybe you can get the small 912 80 horse . I Do see what your doing a lot less cost but one person only 👍 as long as it runs better than your coffee machine lol
Don’t buy or build an aircraft, or install an engine that is not suited for the density altitude in which you intend to fly. A dangerous consideration to over look. No matter how fast you can run, your kite is just not gonna fly without lift. It might not be common knowledge, but there are certain country’s where the airlines don’t allow departures after 12:00 pm. Your video is a good offering for those that are thinking of choosing a similar path. Hopefully they won’t make the same mistake. Fly sunrise til winter!
Well said. And to add to that, just because it flies fine with just you (the pilot) aboard, doesn't mean it will be fine if you add a passenger. Light aircraft are extremely weight sensitive, and density altitude compounds the problem.
Very usefull video! I am just near to Buy a replica of the Kitfox, A Raven, and it has a 852 too, downside like yours.. Here un Argentina we are Close to sea level, so that would not be a Problem!! But i have some other questions!! 1.Wich type of oil do you use? 2. In how many Hoursdo you clean and change sparkplugs? And the 3rd. Between how many Hours you take head cilindres off and take the carbon Away? The only thing that stop me dron buying it is the Engine.. Here in argentina we mostly use Lycoming and continental. Rotax is new in here.. that why i ask you some tips!! I hope you undestand my english. Hope you are doing well!
Thanks, I'm glad it was useful. Yes at sea level you won't have the problem we have. The best oil to use is two-stroke chainsaw oil, which is what we will switch to after our current supply of two-stroke offroad motorbike oil is finished. Motul 2T 710 is quite a good product, if it is available there. We change spark plugs every 25 hours. Some people only change them every 50 hours, but no reason to go cheap here, just put in new ones every 25 hours. You can clean them as often as you like, but there is probably no use in cleaning them more often than every 15 hours. I'm not sure how often the pistons need to be decarboned, since our pistons are only 125 hours old at this stage. But the time between ovehaul on the engine is 300 hours, which is quite often. My guess is 300 hours will elapse before it gets heavily carboned. But that's just a guess. Hope that helps, and enjoy your plane if you do get it!
Remember with a normally aspirated engine you loose about 3% of your rated HP every 1000ft above sea level. Starting with 582 rotax at 5000ft you are already down some horses, not 65 hp
Correct, and that's assuming standard ISA conditions. If the density altitude is higher than elevation (which where I live almost always is quite a bit higher) then even more engine power is lost.
I just bought a kit Fox 2 with a rotax 582. 65 horse blue head. My airport base altitude is 7,600 ft. I was wondering what you thought. I know that on a hot day I should only consider light fuel and one person. But during the winter months it gets down to freezing if not just above freezing quite often. I know that it doesn't seem like a lot of power but would it still be a reliable plane to fly when density altitude is not very high. I don't know what do you guys think. I live in Questa New Mexico USA.
My take, the Kitfox 2 is VERY light and thus the 582 has ample power for it, even 2-up. However 7,600ft is very high, most non-turbocharged engines and planes will suffer there. Even so, I'm quite certain it will fly just fine 1-up.
With the 582 it had a 10kg lead weight bolted to the engine, to get it's centre of gravity correct. It also has some of the tailplane upgrades (bigger tailplane spars) to increase it's max takeoff weight. Other than those 2 things, no idea, is just heavy I guess. Probably not too out of the ordinary for a Bushbaby Explorer.
Haha! Sies man jy los ons op n lelike cliffhanger!😜 Kon jy bepaal hoekom jou aerie so swaar is? Is hy so gebou of is daar baie cabin luxuries soos matte etc. wat minder gemaak kan word? Ek sien uit om julle te join, ons Bushbaby het nog so paar ure se werk oor voor hy vir n toets vlug gan dan begin ons saam speel😁
Haha julle sal maar moet wag en sien 😁 Kon nie rerig bepaal nie, maar dis heelwaarskeinlik 2 goed; Eerste is die 10kg lood wat aan die engin vasgemaak is vir C of G purposes. Tweede is dis 'n Bushbaby 550. So structurally sterker as die Bushbaby 450 en 500. Wanneer gaan julle Bushbaby reg wees? Ons sal verseker saam gaan speel!
@@LetsGoAviate Aah ok, ja dit maak seker sin. Ek het nie geweet daar is variations op die raam nie. Moeilik om te sê, dis my pa sin, ek help hom na werk waar moontlik maar hy herstel nou eers van n rug operasie so werk op die oomblik so 10 minute op n slag aan hom. Maar dis letterlik n paar brackets en drade nog oor. Hy wil teen begin Desember hom stuur na n ou vir vlerk inspeksie en toets vlug so maybe begin volgende jaar. Ek's baie opgewonde! As hy nie gou klaar is nie gan ek vir lifts moet begin smeek😂
@@van403 Ja dis interessant, ons het onlangs met Stefan van KFA gechat. Al wat gebeur om hom 'n hoër max all up weight te gee is hy kry dikker rods en ekstra versterkings by die stert. Dit maak hom natuurlik swaarder. Maar dis net my teorie, want ons het niks fancy in die cockpit wat hom so swaar kan maak nie. Sterkte met julle vliegtuig, hoop julle kan binnekort vlieg!
