Hey. I’ve made a couple posts here in the past week or so.
I’m heavily considering buying a Revmaster Onex, low time. My family and girlfriend and most I’ve consulted seem to think it’s not a great idea. First for safety, second, the cost of ownership, and what if it breaks early.
I’m a pilot. I’m not really a mechanic. I want something easy and affordable I can take on XCs. I live at high DA.
Am I missing something on this? I don’t make bad money, I make good money. Are the Revmaster engines really such a pain for someone not very mechanically inclined, who will likely hire out most work to an A&P?
Hello
I fly the sonex behind a revmaster 2300 engine. I’ve learned to service the engine, oil n fiter changes. I’ve learned how to adjust the valves, adjust revflow carburetor, and other minor maintenance item. Early on with zero time on engine, i had to do a major tear down and send a few parts back to the revmaster machine shop. Now, 2 years later and 64 hour
s later… the engine has preformed flawlessly. The engine sips the fuel at 4gph and temperatures behaving. I have more confidence in the revmaster than the aerovee.
Just my thoughts… Hopefully it helps.
Two seats is always better .
The relevant question is, do you want to be a mechanic? If no, I would recommend buying something with a Lycoming or Continental. If your A&P is not a VW guy I don’t see that working out well. If yes, you can end up like us happy VW guys who spend very little. But to get there you will need to make an investment in yourself. Plenty of people here willing to help but if starting from zero it would be good to have a local mentor.
Honestly …, it’s the wrong airplane for that mission. It can be done, but there are better choices you could make. The Onex is a thoroughbred experimental sport plane. You have to either fly it all the time or install an autopilot. Also, as one wise person said: “If you fly a VW powered airplane you can’t be allergic to a wrench.”.
I would love to have that airplane, and I hope David finds the right buyer, but unless you want to get involved in the experimental aspect of experimental aviation, I expect you will be disappointed.
Save up some of that “good money” and get yourself an RV. Or better yet, wait for the Sonex Phoenix.
As someone else said earlier, this is an aircraft that you have to fly all the time. Having said that, it doesn’t take too many hours to get so familiar, you start to make the adjustment automatically.
Since becoming tail wheel endorsed, this is my first such aircraft. I find it easier to fly/land/taxi than the Citabria that I did my training in.
The Rotax 912 ULS is not a cheap engine to purchase, but once purchased, is likly the most reliable, cheap to operate & maintaine engine that you will find in the 100 +/- hp range.
Most Rotax 9’s will make their 2000 hr TBO ++ with no more than routine servicing (unlike other aircraft engines which will have some sort of major/expensive intervention to get them to TBO).
I flight plan at 130 knots True for a 15L/hr ULP fuel consumption.
I have 2 x 30L Wing & a 40 L Fuselage tank. - Total usable 97L - 6.5hrs duration (to empty) so not bad for X country jaunts.
My Legacy is weight & space challenged. I can take a passenger up to 80kg, thats the limit & still be within W&B. Space for camping equipment etc is very limited but with careful planning, just about doable.
I recently completed a 12.5 Hobbs hr return flight, over two days. Not being in the first flush of youth, I stopped every 2 hrs for bladder relief , stretch leg and some fuel. It was a great flight Rotax & Legacy performed flawlessly.
I’m in the very VERY early stages of building a highwing & nowhere close to finalizing engine choices, but my basic thought process is this:
I’m excited for the build, but I’m equally excited to have a flyable plane at the end
Alternative engines (VW/Corvair/viking/etc …) do a great job of keeping costs down, but they have a couple of issues that keep me from considering them:
My impression is that they’re great if you want to tinker. If lived at an airport or was retired, that could work for me but I’m neither of those things.
VW has a slightly broader base, but some alternative options seem to rely on just one or two people who are in their 60s. I’m hoping I can fly my highwing for many many years, and that presents some obvious timeline issues.
Mechanic support is much less available / practically nonexistent. If I run into issues that I’m not comfortable fixing on my own it may be harder to find a rotax mechanic that someone who’s familiar with ly/con engines, but they exist.
The cost difference isn’t big enough for me to consider the tradeoff.
An Aerovee Turbo is $17.5k
Lockwood lists the 912 ULS at $25k, and there’s a low-time ULS listed for $16k on barnstormers
For me personally, the extra $7.5k for a new rotax is a no-brainer
Everyone’s situation & priorities are different, but that’s how I’ve thought through this particular question.
A good point for new engines. A used engine in a flying airplane still represents a large cost savings, both at purchase and as you maintain it. But you have to want to be a mechanic.
