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When will a diesel be available for my aircraft? |
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News, facts, and comments on the coming revolution for piston-engine aircraft.News of October 26, 2008A subscriber asks us to publish the story of his nightmare with his Diamond DA42…David Akel, retired FedEx Airbus Captain (30 years) in Memphis, TN, reports: Over 150 DA-42 (Diamond Twinstar) Owners in the United States are now grounded due to fraudulent concealment and what appears to be corruption on FAA certification of this Daimler Chrysler diesel automotive engine for aircraft use. Some engines did not even last 190 hours on a $600,000 aircraft, with warranty canceled by Thielert and Diamond refusing assistance on the aircraft that they manufactured and sold, and were solely responsible for selecting the defective Thielert 1.7 engines. I signed a purchase order with Premier Aircraft Sales in Ft. Lauderdale for a 2006 Diamond DA-42 on May 14, 2007. Purchase price was $560,000. At the time I was an A-300 Captain for FedEx and was planning on using the DA-42 to supplement my retirement at age 60 in October 2007 by leasing the aircraft to a flight school in Atlanta. Before accepting delivery of a Premier DA-42 demonstrator with 140 hrs, I requested in writing to cancel my purchase due to defective Thielert engines, as evidenced by double flame out and crash, multiple mandatory service bulletins, as well as engine seizures. The request was denied and as per contract I would lose my $56,000 down payment. The first 6 months I averaged a monthly gross of $10,600. Then in April, after performing a service bulletin, a broken piston cooling nozzle was discovered, requiring a replacement engine and grounding the aircraft. A replacement engine was promised to be shipped May 6 2008. However Thielert, the engine manufacturer, declared bankruptcy. Diamond Aircraft Industries executives would not even acknowledge my multiple Fedex requests for help in asking what my options were to get my DA-42 airworthy and back in flight school service, as the bank note, insurance, etc. was $5000/month. This Thielert engine (Centurion 1.7) was certified by the FAA in November of 2004. The engine is a 4 cylinder 135 hp diesel automotive engine made by Daimler Chrysler which Thielert converts for airplane use by adding a gearbox and other aviation specific parts. The FAA approval surprised many industry observers because it entailed producing an engine with parts that the manufacturer (Daimler Chrysler) would not verify. Another FAA first is certification of this engine with 1000 hrs. TBR (To Be Replaced). Diamond quietly started production in late 2005 to replace these defective Thielert 1.7. I also paid $63,000 for the TKS known icing option, which Diamond published as certified for known ice, but it was not certified until March 2008 and only then after performing a Diamond Service Bulletin. Diamond also supplied me with a break even analysis for consideration before purchase showing Thielert 1.7 engine as 2400 hrs TBO with no mention of engine replacement at 1000 hrs. There are 150 DA-42 in USA and most if not all are AOG due to either broken cooling nozzles or cracked cylinder heads. The 2 year warranty on the engines is gone, and any replacement parts or engines are now cost prohibitive as the insolvent Thielert has jacked up the prices 3 to 4 times and will not honor warranty. The dealer has offered nothing but mediation and arbitration as per their contract, and Diamond has offered a customer assistance program with conditions to their ‘valued customers’. If an owner will sign a liability release, then Diamond will put you in the queue for one of their Austro Engines, when it becomes certified. Certification in the US will not be until late 2009, and will require a retrofit STC certification. This will require gutting the aircraft from firewall forward and beefing up the landing gear as the Austro Engine is 84 lbs heavier than Thielert 1.7. Production limitations may push the conversion option to 2010 while your DA-42 sits AOG. However, in return for signing the liability release, Diamond will reimburse their ‘valued customers’ up to 30% of the price of their Austro Engine. DA-42 owners purchased their aircraft from Diamond, and Diamond selected the defective Thielert 1.7 engines for their DA-42. Diamond cannot abdicate responsibility and must cover loss of use as well as the cost of new engines for their DA-42's either out of franchise integrity or by court order. Comment from DieselAir: We are ready to publish answers from Diamond and Thielert… posted at 4:32 AM |
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