What is going on?

[PTKay]

The AXE, Xenon Owners Assoc. web page still informs the following:

"From a preliminary investigation by Rotax and other sources, it appears as if some gearboxes on the RSTs are not meshing correctly causing damage to a main gear. This is has been evidenced by metal on the magnetic plug and later verified by a tear-down inspection.
There has not been a factory service bulletin on this problem from Celier Aviation ."

The full text seems to blame Celier Aviation for the fault.

https://www.xenonowners.com/index.p...-box-defect&catid=11:airframeengine&Itemid=11

At the same time THERE IS an AD on the Celier page:

https://celieraviation.eu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/gears.pdf

stating that:

"Rotax engine manufacturer has produced a series of defective gears.
Only 3 defective gears have been installed in Xenon RST, and we had no way to notice that
during standard installation procedure.
All the defective gears (with the part number tracking) have been located and exchanged
under Rotax warranty.
We apologize as well as Rotax for that problem."

So is AXE having an issue in not mentioning/updating the Celier ADs ?

Or what is going on?

What is the real situation?

 

[mark treidel]

You will have to go to Rotaxowner.com and look up your engine/gearbox serial numbers and match them to the recall. If you have an engine that falls into the recall catagory, it is mandatory to replace the gears. There is a full service bulletin there on the issue as well as educational video instructions.

 

[RotorTom]

Two Different Things

Two Different Things

The gear problems written about on the Rotax Owners site have nothing to do with the problems that were experienced by Xenon RST owners.

The gears were NOT defective. They were mismatched at the Xenon factory.

When attempting to put on heftier gears for the increased power of the turbo, Celier Aviation replaced two of the gears in the 912 gearbox but they did not replace the "dog gear". In some cases (depending on the shelf life of the gears) the gears installed at Celier did not mesh properly with the "dog gear" because of a slightly different angle on the teeth.

My sources tell me Celier claims they consulted Rotax before changing out the gears and Rotax never mentioned a need to change the dog gears.

The odd thing about this situation is that some of the gears used by Celier worked fine with the old dog gears but others did not. That is why it must be handled on a case by case basis. The main indicator that you have a problem is metal on the magnetic plug at the gearbox.

Who is to blame? It doesn't much matter because the owners are footing the bill.

I run the Xenon owners website and have heard from Xenon owners around the world. We all agree that the Xenon is a spectacular gyro. The design is wonderful and the performance is great. But we also agree on something else: If Raphael Celier can blame someone else, he WILL. He doesn't quickly own up to mistakes.

Early on, many of the plexi-doors were weak and blew off during flight. It happened to me and ruined my DUC prop. When I called the factory he claimed he had never heard of this problem. After being in contact with fellow Xenon owners in the US and around the world, I found that there were several incidents, yet each one of us were made to feel as if they had DONE SOMETHING WRONG.

To Raphael's credit, he re-designed the doors and provided them to all owners at 50% of cost. However, owners were left with the aftermath of damages. In my case, I had to replace my prop, repair my horizontal stabilizer and touch up the paint.

Raphael never took responsibility for our losses. Mainly because he probably can't afford it. And that is the main problem with experimental aircraft. They are often designed on a shoe-string budget and the factories seldom have the where-with-all to "step up" when things go south.

One of the main reasons for my website is that I recognized the need for better support than just the factory to keep our birds flying. We owners are in the process of sourcing parts and sharing design modifications.

In essence, you buy the machine "as is" ... with no warranty to speak of. That is why our owners group is so important. What is really needed to make the Xenon viable is a satellite distribution center for parts and support. But with so few flying in the U.S. ... that is doubtful. Now that the LSA exemption is gone ... you will not see many new Xenons in America, except for a few 51% kits (which are good deals) ... BUT ... we will still remain a "rare" breed domestically.

www.xenonowners.com

 

[PTKay]

Tom,

thanks for the comprehensive, exhaustive explanation.

Paul

 

[Xenon-designer]

Hello Tom and all,

Thanks for your support, but i have to replace things at the right place.
Before some incidents with doors, we truly never experience such problem.
As yousais at my credit (thanks) i re-designed the doors as well as other things, also to make them more idiot proof...
Show me a perfect machine...we never said the Xenon was the perfection, we are quite close in fact.
I, and CELIER Aviation team would appreciate that you do not take our place in deciding what is good and what is not for the Xenon. I remind all that Xenon-owners have no rights to edit bulletin services, neither to replace / improve /modifiy our original design without our approval, this is of course not gentlemen attitude and void

 

[Xenon-designer]

any warranty.
We the C.A team are always doing our best to improve support the machine and our customers. You cannot just cut the grass under our feet.
I say that with humour not any personnal offense nor attack to you Tom.
As you know Mike Bantum is also doing its best for all of you and is the in-between representative to the factory.
I much more appreciate positive critisisms, as this help us improve the product.
You should also contact us when you make modifications then edit an information, maybe what you think can be a great idea could be wrong as we tested it much before, and is the reason we did not do it...
I prefer that we first share, and with pleasure to our ideas, you know i am open minded and to listen the comments, try solutions, come back to you with comments and rapports.
So lets be constructive, the factory needs more support than opposition.
And please stop thinking we are weak financially, as you write and as i found in an interesting published letter in your website, because thanks God we can "survive" without the USA market. USA is not the center of the world...We are doing pretty good.
We invite you to visit our factory, you shall be surprised... Really do it !! You shall have also the pleasure to try our Xenon XL (3seats) like so many did.
I wish this forum to be for exchanging ideas, not to comment attitudes.I wish you all the best flights in Xenon, new things coming up.