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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 July 30, 2005Wilksch Airmotive, British aero diesel manufacturer, releases the WAM 100 engine at Flying For Fun, Kemble, UKWilksch Airmotive announced a WAM-100 100HP variant of their 2-stroke diesel modular engine range. The new member of the family is a three cylinder engine like the WAM-120 but has a smaller intercooler and radiator and reduced weight. The first WAM-100 is already installed on a Pietenpol Aircamper. The WAM-100 has been released to meet demand from owners of aircraft such as the Pietenpol and other Cub-like classics and replicas as well as the the D11 series Jodels and Condors. The WAM-100 price is £11,200 (US$ 21,100), that is £800 less than the WAM-120 . Wilksch is taking orders for its WAM-100, -120 and -160, the latter one priced at £ 16,000. These prices include radiator and oil system. WAM engines are flying today on following experimental aircraft: Thorp, Europa, LongEZ, Pietenpol and RV9. Visit http://www.wilksch.com/ or contact Wilksch Airmotive Ltd, Long Street, Dursley, Gloucestershire GL11 4HS United Kingdom. Phone: +44-(0)870-1709670 Fax: +44-(0)870-1709678 E-mail: sales@wilksch.com posted by Deena at 4:47 AM News of July 28, 2005A crystal ball exercise on why General Aviation will thrive by 2020Dear Fellow Pilot, This message is not a sales pitch. It may concern you in three cases: If you are an American pilot; If you are a non-American pilot; If your business has to do with keeping "them" flying. "Them" being any kind of the (around) 400,000 piston-engine’d aircraft existing in the world. Why would anyone ever want to learn to fly? The airline business has never produced more passenger-miles/year than now, and it is still growing. The air cargo business is growing even faster. Shipping one ton-mile of goods by air is getting cheaper and cheaper each year. Each of these airliners have pilots. Similarly, the security of the Free World is more and more dependent on a handful of extra-qualified pilots flying aircraft worth zillions, equipped with ever fancier weaponry and avionics. The world needs more and more pilots. Which is an eternal problem: Why would anyone ever want to learn to fly? In the US, where 70% of the world's aircraft are registered, there is only one aircraft of any description for every one thousand automobiles. The population counts some 750,000 pilots, a tiny percentage of the population, and yet is the highest in the world. Obviously only mentally deranged people - like you and me - enjoy flying. We are mad: the immense majority of the world's population says so. And they say we private pilots are dangerous, noisy, polluting (leaded gas! Ugh…) and irresponsibly enjoying our passion at the taxpayers' expenses. Besides, the pilot population is decreasing anyway… Soon, after one last increase of Avgas price, some stiff FAA navigation fees, and one extra regulation imposing one extra, costly procedure, we will be done with these crazy little airfields. Make room for mass transportation, regulated by their army of lawyers. We can always hire pilots from China, India, Russia or Mexico. True? Not true? Yet, every single one of these Airbus, Boeing, C5A, Sukhoi, Tornado and FA22 pilots once in his life took a first flying lesson… on what? On a small, half-ton, single engine, put-put-put Cessna, Piper, or equivalent small plane. And besides, Chinese and Indian pilots are badly needed in China and India... So at the end of the day, will General Aviation live and thrive, or will it go the way of the Dodo? Here is the good news: It is going to thrive, not only in the US, but worldwide. (Besides, remember, the Dodo went extinct precisely because it couldn’t fly…) How do I know? Well, people might say that GA should grow for three reasons: Because as airliners become bigger, cheaper, more volksy, more regulated and policed, more mass transit-like, etc., more people will look for the alternative: the corporate business jet if you belong to that world, and the private plane. Because there are huge developing countries out there for which the small plane offers the most effective, expedient transportation. Especially when there is nothing else (Siberia, Africa, South East Asia…) Because the world economy is growing, and more people are becoming airline passengers (clogging the airlines even more) while also more people can afford their own plane or fraction of a plane. But these reasons aren't nearly enough to compensate for other facts and trends: After 5 years flying in the US a Cessna 182 I own, cannot afford, and share with other pilots, and as I know more and more small aircraft owners, I have discovered that a majority of so-called pilots hardly manage to stay proficient and hardly fly more than the $100 hamburger and more than 50 hours/year. And they complain about increasing insurance costs and Avgas prices. And they fear their next medical. And there are less and less of them. And this is in the US where Avgas is still cheaper than elsewhere, FAA services are free of charge (except fuel tax) and you have airfields everywhere. Less and less of them are flying because their employer discourages them from using their own plane for business (liability), and their family from using it for vacations (weather). Except of course a small elite. Something else must give if low cost, affordable flying really thrives and opens the market. And it is the coming of the foolproof airplane. The good news is: it is coming. Stall-proof, fireproof, weather proof, engine-loss proof, fuel exhaustion proof, alternator loss proof. Even pilot deficiency proof... What is that? In its simplest form, it will be a single diesel (fireproof, engine-loss proof, no alternator) engine, 100HP plane, 2-seater, of high aspect ratio possibly with leading edge slats (stall proof), equipped with a 2-axis autopilot, GPS with WAAS datalink (weather proof), the autopilot allowing for Air Traffic Control to override the pilot (deficiency proof) and take direct control of the plane to program an automatic landing at the nearest airfield (which is possible with a diesel). In case of unforeseen weather degradation combined with pilot deficiency, ATC may also tune the engine to best fuel economy (meaning in our case 1.8 Gal/h: fuel exhaustion proof thanks to diesel's quasi-constant Specific Fuel Consumption) to reroute the plane. Such a plane can, with less equipment, sell as a Light Sports Airplane. It will be priced between fifty and a hundred thousand US dollars (2005 price index). Its It's world market may well be of 10,000 units/year in 2020, so it will be worthwhile to get it certified at such low prices. In its most elaborate form it may be a 200 to 350HP 4-seater priced from two to five hundred thousand dollars, or even a 350HP twin priced up to one million. That twin will be, in 2025, a flying hotel room taking you and your spouse from the US to Europe and back for a total fuel bill of $ 1,750, plus your weekend golf bill in the Azores on the way. Where will such planes be designed and manufactured? This is where the field is opening. They will certainly result of an international division of labor and component outsourcing, involving, besides the US: Russia, Ukraine, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, UK, Poland, Czechland, Brazil, China, India… (Fellow pilot, are you in any of such countries? We want to hear from you.) Where will such airplanes be flying? Same thing. They will enjoy a wider market than the sole US, even though the US should remain the biggest single market for some decades. Who will own such planes, or shares in them? Mostly self-employed people, small business owners, and retired people (did you notice there are more and more of them and they have the money?) And these three classes form a sub-population which, worlwide, is growing very fast. When is the first of these planes coming to certification? My guess is it will be a gradual process between 2008 and 2020. But other planes are coming before that: diesel conversions of existing planes; diesel OEMs on new but already certified planes; interesting experimental designs demonstrating this or that feature… It is going to be interesting for you either as a pilot or as a GA businessman, wherever you may be on the planet. Still interested? Now comes my request to you if you read that far: I ask you to stay tuned with this crystal ball exercise; to send me information and questions through our DieselAir Newsletter Forum; to enlist as a free-of-charge subscriber in order to receive automatically by email all news stories posted on our website; and to pass the word along to other pilots and professionals who should be interested too. We would like to know how many diesel aircraft are flying in your country; know about any firm or organization working on a future STC for a diesel conversion of an existing plane; know about any interesting experimental diesel project. Any positive answer will also help. "What?" you may tell me. "You don't want any money?" Well, to say the truth, already thanks to you all for reading this far and for visiting us. The DieselAir Newsletter's website receives 2,500 hits per day, a 100% progress during the last 6 months. Your kind interest will help us. Happy landings! Andre Teissier-duCros, Publisher posted by Deena at 9:06 AM News of July 27, 2005Oshkosh: Diamond DA42 is FAA certifiedDiamond Aircraft has announced that it's fuel-sipping, Thielert Diesel-powered DA42 TwinStar has been certified by the FAA. The type certificate was presented by the FAA's Director of Aircraft Certification Services, John Hickey, at a ceremony at EAA AirVenture. The plane has been certified in Europe for almost a year and 35 have been delivered. The company is also testing a Lycoming-powered avgas version of the plane that it hopes will be certified next year. "The DA42-TDI is the world's very first certified piston aircraft that incorporates new technology airframe, powerplant, and avionics technology," said Peter Maurer, Diamond's president. The all-composite twin also sports a full Garmin G1000 panel in addition to the Thielert engines, which churn out 135 h.p. a side while burning less (cheaper) jet fuel per hour than many singles. While the Lycoming version uses 30 percent more fuel, the extra ponies (180 a side) greatly improve takeoff and climb performance. Both are on display at Diamond's booth. (AVWeb, 7-28-05) Comment: AVWeb forgets to say that the 30% difference applies at same speed, same power rating. posted by Deena at 6:56 AM News of July 20, 2005Aviation Consumer special report on aerodiesel progress in the US calls for remarksIn the June issue of Aviation Consumer p. 4 one can find a good status report on the progress of aerodiesels in the US, which concludes that for the time being Thielert appears as the world leader; and recognizes with fair play that Thielert s and Diamond s progress have been faster than Aviation Consumer anticipated. This is correct. Thielert-engined Diamond DA-40 planes number some 130 today, mostly in Europe, and Diamond is producing several DA-42 diesel per month. The Cessna 172 Thielert is STCd by FAA, there are 60 of them converted to Thielert flying now, and EPIC Aviation in Florida is converting them for the Latin American market. The Thielert V-8 of 350 HP is flying on the futuristic HPA TT62, see www.hp-aircraft.de/edoc/news.html. Mentioning that AVgas prices have hit $5/gallon in some spots, Aviation Consumer now recognizes that diesel is right here, and is here to stay. Does it mean that Thielert will dominate the US and world market? They have a chance, but... No, the Thielert is not a Mercedes engine converted to aircraft use. It is a new engine designed around a Mercedes engine block. The V-8 is completely new. One should insist that Thielert is in control of its technology and tooling. What Thielert offers is a 135HP, high RPM, 1.7 liter (104 c. i.) 4-cylinder In-Line water-cooled and geared (1.7/1.0) engine replacing a 160HP O-320. Extrapolated to a 4 liter (244 c. i.) V-8 it exceeds 300HP. American pilots will mistrust (wrongly, but thats life) the TBR on such a high rev, high manifold pressure engine. SMA offers a 230HP, O-305 (5 liters), low RPM, opposite cylinders, air/oil cooled, direct drive engine which is really a 300HP engine down-rated to 230HP. The SMA 300HP in other words will be the same size, with a slightly higher compression ratio and RPM. The SMA engine has the type certificate. The STC for the 182 conversion is expected by December at latest. Its service/conversion agents FlyJetA in Florida and Tule Air Aero in California have taken orders contingent to STC thanks to their demonstrators. American pilots look at it and say: "It aint geared, and it looks like a smaller O engine". DeltaHawk Engines offers for the experimental market a V-4 2-stroke engine, 160 and 200HP, liquid cooled, direct drive, which is 49 Lbs. lighter than a Lycoming O-320. A V-8 will follow, reaching 400HP. Of these 3 contenders, the one who has a deep pocket to buffer eventual product litigation costs is SMA, 100% owned by the huge SAFRAN group (SNECMA/Sagem merger). Thielert is a good, healthy midsize firm of 220 employees. Diamond is now a respectable firm, but is no Cessna yet... DeltaHawk is a small and young venture (until they are acquired by someone with a deep pocket...). Diamond Aircraft is offering and selling diesels, but their CEO Peter Maurer makes it clear that they are not “anti Avgas, pro-diesel”: They simply offer the choice. So our short term forecast for the US market is: Sales of DA 40 and 42 diesels to remain confidential but not nil for the next 2 years, then take off. That will be when Diamond has a chance to consolidate leadership. Sale of 172 Thielert to flight academies to incubate for 2 years with maybe one to three schools purchasing a fleet, then take off: The 172 diesel as trainer is an obvious market. Sale of 182SMA conversions to take off during 2006 at a modest level: may be 6-9 in 2006 and 15-25 in 2007. Sale of new Maule SMA to take off at rate of few per year, but mostly for export markets. Work to progress on STCs for light twins with SMA (Vulcanair, Seneca, others) and a bit later for Thielert V-8 (Beech Duke conversion in progress in Germany). Whether DeltaHawk will be a serious contender during the next 2 years remains unknown. We are preparing a story. In Europe, expect progress of 100HP, 2-stroke diesels for 152s and the like from D-Air Ltd. in UK, but only progress towards various certifications and for the European market for the time being. Then, one day, someone will take a risk on a 150-152 STC... Why couldnt Diamond become sooner a definite US market leader? Because American pilots perceive (wrongly, but that’s life) 135HP as not enough; and because Thielert and Diamond (wisely) do not want to rush things until they are sure that customer service will work. So the game remains open. posted by Deena at 2:28 PM News of July 18, 2005100 hp diesel engine designed to be direct 0-200 replacementFinally some news from the remarkable, British-designed DieselAir or D-Air diesel aero engine, based on the intrapolation of the famous Junkers Jumo diesel 2-stroke of the 30's and 40's, the weight/power ration of which is unbeaten to this day: The Diesel Air engine was shown at the PFA Rally this July. It is a 1.8 litre opposed-piston flat twin two-stroke with a dry weight of 90 kilos (excluding radiators and intercooler). It is rated at 100 hp, at a propeller speed of 2,500 rpm.In layout, the Diesel Air resembles one end of the highly-developed Jumo 207 diesel of the mid 1940s (see http://www.dair.co.uk/documents/press_rel/pilot/pilotnotes.htm and visit notably pg 31); pairs of pistons share bores in the centre of the engine and they drive geared-together crankshafts mounted-in this case, either side of the engine. The blower is a modified production turbocharger compressor and is driven from a step-up gear train via a quill shaft and epicyclical gear set. The 600 bar rotary injection pump is also a modified version of a standard automotive item. Although a turbocharger can be added for extra power, a mechanically-driven blower was chosen for the base engine because a turbocharger alone would not provide sufficient off-load boost to keep the engine running during low-power phases like the final approach. One novelty, the detail design of which Diesel Air is keeping very close to its chest, is a 'torque limiter' which protects the propeller from the diesel engine's characteristically harsh firing impulses, especially at low speed. This engine has been flying successfully for quite some time on a Luscombe high wing taildragger. Visit: http://www.dair.co.uk and note that the Diesel Air Ltd. firm incorporated in the UK has no relations with the DieselAir Newsletter even though they share the same interests. I am convinced that the 2-stroke structure will eventually take a significant market share at least for small engines because it is difficult to build a 4-stroke, 100HP engine that would be light enough. posted by Deena at 8:30 AM News of July 05, 2005What most diesel experts miss about why diesel is coming: The Case of the inexperienced IFR pilot in his Cessna 172 (or Piper Warrior)Yes, I know, all you think of about aerodiesel is savings on fuel, no more dependence on Avgas, longer TBO’s and all that jazz. And so do the aviation engineers and experienced pilots think of when they tell you about how fantastic their engine will be. Let me try to reprogram you. I want you to put yourself in my place where I was 4 years ago, a recent IFR ASEL pilot thinking about buying his first plane and being short on funds. Because there are lots of pilots and potential pilots in the same situation today, and lots of them will give up flying and owning a plane before you know about them. Keep in mind that AOPA is doing a lot of work to attract new pilots and aircraft owners, who painfully got their VFR license, discovered that you cannot seriously take your family to the beaches in VFR conditions, then painfully got their IFR ticket – because they found out they do love flying - and now wonder what plane they can afford. Keep in mind that the US has by far the biggest population of private pilots owning a plane or a share in a plane and that this population (around 700,000 if I am right) is dwindling down… The most reasonable plane they could buy is a 172 or Warrior because they are real minimal family planes and are not too expensive to maintain. Yet you and I know we won’t recommend them such a plane for IFR travel. Why? Speed? Not at all. If you love flying, what does it matter if you get there in three hours and a half instead of four hours and a quarter? The real reason is these 40 gallon tanks. If you fly IFR with legal reserves for one alternate plus some because you are inexperienced, you will always plan for 2 hours reserves. This means you have 2.5 hours of practical range. Worse: It means that if you are stuck above the clouds because, down there, the whole neighborhood suddenly went below minima’s, you will get nervous about how much fuel you still have. Remember: I am talking of an inexperienced pilot. Which is why the 182 remains so popular: With 90 gallons on Auto-Pilot, you can fly economy for 7 hours and you will never worry about spending time in the air preparing and negotiating a new flight plan while talking to Flightwatch. Well, a diesel 172 or Warrior, with 40 gallons of Jetfuel and after burning, say, half of its fuel at max. cruise speed before the bad news, can reduce speed down to 4 gallons/hour and still have five hours available. It has become a true IFR cross country plane, and a safe one. How fast? You will gradually find out that, at 12,000 ft (remember a diesel is turbocharged and comes with a constant speed propeller), it is faster than the same plane on Avgas at 8,000, and flies that much higher above the weather. And if, instead of a 172, it is a modern aircraft, Diamond-like, composites, high aspect ratio, the works? Of course it would do even better. But be realistic: A new pilot with limited means buying his first plane, in 90% of cases, will be well advised to buy a plane he can afford to maintain, and which is easy to resell. And in the US that’s called a 172 or a Cherokee/Warrior. Of course a diesel 182 will be even better; but at a higher cost. Of course a 172 diesel will spend a bit more on propeller TBO, but less on engine TBO and much less on fuel; it will not risk engine fire on board, and it will have long legs now. If you disagree, let’s meet on the Forum! posted by Deena at 5:59 PM |
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