The Rotax 915 iS is an Austrian

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...

, produced by Rotax of Gunskirchen for use in

ultralight aircraft Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

, homebuilt aircraft,

light-sport aircraft A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a fairly new category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictio ...

, small helicopters and gyroplanes. The engine was type certified in 2017. The engine was first publicly displayed at AirVenture in July 2015 and first flown in March 2016. In January 2016 the engine was named AVweb's "Best New Engine" of 2015.

Design and development

The Rotax 915 iS is a four-cylinder

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

, horizontally-opposed,

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

, air and liquid-cooled, gasoline engine design, with a mechanical gearbox reduction drive. The turbocharger has a compression ratio of 3.5:1 and the engine will have a critical altitude of . It employs dual electronically controlled fuel injection, using dual channel Rockwell Collins ECUs, with dual ignition and produces for take-off and continuous. The engine can produce rated power up to and has a ceiling of . The engine is based on the

Rotax 912 The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, late ...

, but differs in that it has fuel injection, a reinforced crankshaft, new pistons, a new gearbox and a turbocharger. Time between overhauls was expected to eventually be raised to 2000 hours with operational experience, but started at 1200 hours. The design entered production in the second half of 2017. The European Aviation Safety Agency certified the Rotax 915 iSc3 A on 14 December 2017 and the Rotax 915 iSc3 B on 4 January 2018. In December 2021 the option to replace the 12V electrical system with a 24V one was introduced. The 24V version of the engine is designated the 915iS C24 for the non-certified version and the 915iSc C24 certified version.

Variants

;Rotax 915iS :Base version with a 12V electrical system ;Rotax 915iS C24 :Non-certified model with 24V electrical system ;Rotax 915iSc C24 :Certified model with 24V electrical system

Applications

* Issoire APM 41 Simba 915iS * Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey * The Airplane Factory Sling TSi

Specifications (915 iS)

References

External links