Rotax 916is Turbo

[STGove]

#slingsupport


Good afternoon all,

FIrst off: So sorry about the loss of Slings Chief Test Pilot - Sean Russel. RIP

I recently received an email blast from Sling SA about things in general, but highlighting the new HW. They discussed shipping the new HW with the new upcoming Rotax 916is motor.

Being interested, I Googled it, but not much info is available yet.

Seems basically the same as the 915is but 165 hp instead of 140 hp.

Does it / will it also fit on the TSi motor mount?

Will it be it be on the available for the TSi also?

I'm just starting my build, having ordered the Empennage kit, but not received it yet, thus 2 years or so before I will be at the point on getting the motor...

Curious minds and all...

Let the discussions begin!

Thanks,

[Heftiger]

From the documentation I read it looks like the same engine (same dimensions and weight) with a larger oil reservoir. Power difference is an added 3-minute period where you have boost the engine to 159 HP. But the max continuous is still the same.

[Sling Technical Official]

Good day guys

We plan on making it available for the TSI as well after completing all the engineering and flight testing required.

The additional max power will further improve the take off and climb performance of the TSI but we should see the same cruise performance with max continuous power.
The Rotax 916 will fit the same as a 915.

Kind regards,
Sling Support

[lutorm]

#slingsupport

I'm just about to order my TSi kit. Will the FWF kit for a 916 be the same as for the 915? If not, I guess I should hold off on getting that in case I'd want to put a 916 in it instead.

[Sling Technical Official]

Good day

At this stage we don't foresee major changes getting made to the firewall forward kit. We will be able to confirm this after completing the required tests. We will make an upgrade kit available for the guys who already have a 915 firewall forward and fuel system kit if its necessary.

Regards
Sling Support

[AlabamaSlingPilot]

I just came back from Sun and Fun where Rotax announced the 916. I talked to a couple of the Rotax guys about it. I was told the main difference was in the internals with a beefed up crank and case. This is what allowed the TBO to increase to 2000 hours. The increased Horsepower was due to some minor tuning of the ECM. There are no other differences and it is an exactly bolt in same as 915. I plan to use this engine in my build just for the TBO increase, but the extra 20 ponies for take off certainly won't hurt.

[CDSmith]

So there are those of us kind of caught in the middle here.

I have a kit coming soon, but feel it's a big hit to install an older, less capable 915, given the expectation the 916 will be approved by Sling shortly.

Have made a deposit for the engine (before the 916 was announced), but not yet received.

If the engine was already installed, then different situation, but this can be addressed before the engine gets onboard.

This affects cost/hour, resale, etc. Not small items.

I've dropped some messages to Sling North America, nothing back yet.

Anyone have info on the "in-flight" (pun intended) kits that are right on the cusp here?

#slingsupport

[lutorm]

Have made a deposit for the engine (before the 916 was announced), but not yet received.

I was told by the European distributor that engines were delivered in 4 weeks right now, so it seems strange you'd have to put a deposit down so far in advance. I also didn't think the engines came through SA?

[CDSmith]

Have made a deposit for the engine (before the 916 was announced), but not yet received.

I was told by the European distributor that engines were delivered in 4 weeks right now, so it seems strange you'd have to put a deposit down so far in advance. I also didn't think the engines came through SA?

Deposit went through Sling North America, not sure what their timing process is with Sling in SA. I know there was a price increase I was avoiding.

I think the engines *do* go from Rotax to South Africa for Sling to do some work on them before they get shipped as part of the kit.

Of course you can buy an engine direct from Rotax too, not sure what that means for warranty, etc.

[Edward_H]

I think I can add some to this discussion. It is my first post as the sales manager of The Airplane Factory (U.S.) rather than as a builder (my QB TSi kit is still moving along in my garage). I am taking over for Barry, who left the company a month or so ago.

I spoke with Rotax as well as the Sling factory in South Africa and this is what I know:

The 916iS engine does have more horsepower for the first 5 minutes - 160HP vs. 141HP for the 915iS. After that, it is essentially the same at about 136HP for cruise.

The 916iS engine is still not released. Rotax are waiting on the final certification and documentation they need. They have done all the paperwork and they are now just waiting. At this point, assuming they get the sign offs they need quickly, the soonest they would be in production would be the end of May, so the first engines would be coming out of production around the end of June. By the time they get to Sling and then to customers in the U.S., it will probably be September or August.

The 916iS will not work with the Airmaster props, so Sling will be using the MT prop with it instead.

The “new” 915iS engines that will have the 2000 hour TBO also need to go through paperwork - they need an amendment to their type certification, which is underway but is separate from the paperwork for the 916iS engine. As soon as the amendment is approved and signed off, they will release information on the new 2000 hour TBO and (hopefully) what changes they made to get 2000 hours. They do NOT expect that previous 915iS engines will have their TBO increased. The timing on that amendment is unknown, but based on the 916iS engine timeline, anyone who needs a 915iS engine (in the U.S.) before the end of the year would be better off just getting one now. Remember that for us private pilots who are flying experimental planes non-commercially, the TBO is an interesting number but not a requirement. The Rotax distributor did say that it would still be a good idea to get a complete tear down review of the gearbox at 1200 hours in any case.

There is a possibility for those that are just now starting to build that by the end of 2024, the 916iS engine with the MT Prop will be the standard for the TSi, but that is not cast in stone at all. For now, all the 916iS engines that Sling can get will be going in to the Sling High Wings.

If you’re in the U.S. and you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to me at Edward@AirplaneFactory.com.