Lower Engine Cowl Removal

How often and under what conditions (except the obvious), do you remove the lower engine cowl?

By adding the oil drain, only need to at the annual inspection or if there is some special reason.

Bill_H said:

By adding the oil drain, only need to at the annual inspection or if there is some special reason.

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Assumes that if you change the oil filter between annuals you can do so without getting oil all over the place and have to clean it up!

If you want to check the screen at oil change time then you have to remove the lower cowl as well.

SMO said:

Assumes that if you change the oil filter between annuals you can do so without getting oil all over the place and have to clean it up!

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That's not super hard to do with the Rotax - the filter is within easy reach on the left/front of the engine. I generally use a small cup to catch anything that comes out as the filter is removed and suffer very little drippage.

Mark, I think you are on the wrong forum. Bill and Dave are correct.

I am of the opinion that: 1) removal of the lower cowling on an RV-12 is not that difficult a task to perform and 2) a regular thorough inspection of the engine compartment goes a long way to enhancing flight safety. There are a lot of goodies (e.g., wires, tubes, lines, pipes, etc.) trying their darndest to vibrate on the engine. You can also look for any leaking fluids (I have found the 912 to be a remarkably leak-free engine). Regular inspection (maximum of 50 Hobbs hours for me) of the entire engine is a good thing!

After you do it a few times it's routine. I agree it's good to check things in between annuals, and oil changes occur at a reasonable frequency.