Rotax 912ULS Question

[Guest Jake.f]

Hey,

 

Trying to answer all the questions in a workbook my instructor gave me for familiarisation , however I cannot find the answer to one particular question anywhere. The question is how many spark plugs are there in each cylinder? I have looked in the POH and such and cannot find it...

 

Thanks.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

2

 

 

[Guest Jake.f]

That was my first guess, thanks.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

you should have done an ignition check prior to takeoff which involved turning off each ignition

 

 

[Guest Jake.f]

So the ignition system is synonymous with spark plugs? That would explain a lot...

 

As you can tell I have a very limited level of knowledge on how engines work, I'll get there though.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

you should take your time to learn as one day it might save your plane from a nasty landing.

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

Don't you check that the spark plug leads are attached and firmly seated as part of your daily?

 

I think you will need to become a lot more familiar with engine operation principals and failure modes as you progress. Perhaps that is what the workbook is prompting you to do.

 

 

[Guest Jake.f]

I know that today we will be going over pre-flight inspections and also effects of controls (provided the wind does not come up) so we will probably cover all this.

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

I know that today we will be going over pre-flight inspections and also effects of controls (provided the wind does not come up) so we will probably cover all this.

Ah. Good stuff.

After I had been doing pre-flight checks for a few lessons, my CFI used to sometimes subtly sabotage the aircraft before I arrived for a lesson, just to test as to whether I would find the problem in doing the pre-flight checks. He caught me out with a Pip-Pin that was not locked. On another occasion, a loose spark plug lead was one of the tests.... I found it.

 

Just as a tip. Visual inspection only is inadequate for most items. Push, pull, feel... test everything physically. After obtaining my license, that is how I detected a cracked oil sump bracket on my own aircraft... more movement than I expected when pushing on it. I'm grateful that I was taught to be very thorough.

 

 

[Guest Jake.f]

He went over the ignition system today, makes perfect sense now. I was under the assumption one switch corresponded to one spark plug, hence why it didn't make sense for there to be 2 in each cylinder...