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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 November 25, 2007If the Adam 500 twin was a dieselI like the Adam 500 (see Flying Magazine December 07 test flight and www.adamaircraft.com): It is a well streamlined push-pull twin applying the Burt Rutan aerodynamics recipes, as easy to control as a single engine. In a test flight report in the British Todays Pilot Magazine, the author reports having the co-pilot shutting off one engine without the pilot even noticing it! It supports well my theory that a diesel twin of twice 350HP, and 500HP one day, has a long term future. Here is why. It is capable of 220 knots cruise at 22,000 feet with a fuel flow of 44 gallons/hour. It has two Continental 550 TSIO of 350 HP with a TBO of, hopefully, 1,600 hours. It carries 230 gallons of AvGas. It is pressurized. It comes as a good example to explain what diesel can do to an already performing plane. It is priced at $1,25 million with standard equipment. However, I note that with full tanks its payload is only 450 Lbs because of its net weight of 5,350 Lbs. With Thielert V8 350HP diesels, the speed performance would probably remain the same at same altitude than with an O-550 turbo of same power. I estimate the net weight to be 100 Lbs lighter based on another experience of replacement of an O-550 by this V8. The long range at cruise speed of 200 knots would go from 1,286 to 1,718NM, and to 2,400NM at 180 knots. If an emergency forbade landing and requested to stay in the air on low fuel, the fuel flow could go down to some 7 gallons per hour at 120 knots. The TBO would go up to at least 2,400 hours, and 3,000 in the foreseeable future. The flying time and fuel cost of a transatlantic flight consisting in a flight with 2 on board plus luggage, from the US East Coast to Europe in 3 legs, say, to the French Riviera, Jersey Island, or Corsica, or a local airport near a business facility in Germany, or other destination that makes sense for a private plane, and back, 9,200 NM at 185 knots, with a fuel flow of 17 gallons/hour of JetA and an average fuel cost of $4/gallon along the road, would be around 50 hours, at a cost of less than $2,000. Exact flying time on each way would of course depend of route and prevailing winds. I would recommend making a week end stop in the Azores or in Iceland, depending on season. I estimate the total cost per trip, including amortization costs based on 600 hours/year total flying time, plus travel overheads such as hospitality, landing fees, etc., at some $5,000 or 2,500 per head. This without taking into account yet any tax benefit derived from plane ownership. That kind of expense cannot be called 'jet-setting'. Such a trip is not practical with the AvGas version of this plane: the much shorter range will require more legs, and, with AvGas at $8/gallon in Europe, the variable costs become unrealistic. Better fly regular airlines in first class. A natural objection will be that a SOCATA TBM 850 will accomplish such a mission at 300 knots, also burning Jet A. However the combined amortization, maintenance and fuel costs fit with a completely different kind of wallet. Andre Teissier-duCros posted at 8:27 PM News of November 16, 2007A crystal ball exercise in the long term (40 years) future of aero diesels worldwide.High octane gasoline (Avgas) will still be produced in 2050. It will be used by motor gliders and Ultra-Light planes, with power of less than 50 HP, imposed by regulations. It will cost some $20/gallon in 2007 dollars. Jetfuel will be a complex mixture of conventional petroleum products, of bio-fuel coming from genetically modified plants with high sugar content, and of synthetic fuel from coal. Said modified plants will not be cereals: more like improved beetroots… Turbojet and turboprop engines will remain dominant for powers above 500HP, with higher fuel efficiency. The market of small aircraft with piston engines will have grown to the point that the US will represent only 30% of the world total, and yet will have pursued its present (low) growth. Russia, China, Latin America, South East Asia, will be big markets by then. Australia will keep growing. Automatic landing monitored by ATC will be installed as retrofit or OEM on most small planes. It will allow ATC rescuing any pilot in physical trouble by overriding the autopilot and triggering automatic landing to the nearest airport located by the GPS. Diesel engines will control the whole market of retrofit and OEM, except for vintage aircraft operated with special permits for air shows, etc. Competing on the market will be liquid cooled, in-line, geared engines and opposite cylinders on geared engines. Both will have made progress thanks to new materials for pistons and wearing parts, such as graphite based, or imbedded with solid lubricants. There will be 3 leading engine manufacturers, plus some niche markets such as airships for cargo applications (a booming market), and for cruises. These airships will be less handicapped by power/weight factors and will accept a higher weight per HP, going with higher fuel efficiency. Remark: airships for air cargo will be operating without power some of the time, planning their route according to trade winds thanks to on-time weather reports automatically adjusting flight routes, and using engine only for correcting route to final destination. Their environment friendliness will therefore be exceptional. At least two other manufacturers will be challenging the leaders with 2-stroke diesels, probably using the opposite piston architecture. These diesels will have entered the market at the level of LSA and small planes of less than 150HP including trainers for flight academies, and will have gained ground as their proven reliability increases. Any questions? Andre Teissier-duCros, Publisher. posted at 6:11 AM Ethiopan Airlines buy 10 Cessna 172 diesel...The announcement came at the Dubai Air Show. Cessna brought its new turbo diesel Skyhawk to the show, and announced that Ethiopian Airlines will buy 10 copies. "These aircraft will be used in ab-initio airline training and represent the first fleet of the new Skyhawk TDs ordered by a major airline training school," said Bob Gibbs, Cessna's director of international propeller aircraft sales. Ethiopian Airlines said it chose the aircraft for its Garmin G1000 avionics and economical operation. The Skyhawk TD is powered by a 155-horsepower Centurion 2.0 diesel engine from Germany's Thielert Aircraft Engines. The engine burns JetA-1 fuel, making it a popular option in countries where avgas is scarce, according to Cessna. (AVWeb 11/15/07) posted at 4:55 AM News of November 05, 2007Cessna to Offer Diesel Skyhawk, beginning mid 2008.Cessna will offer the 172S Skyhawk with a Thielert turbo diesel engine with deliveries to start in mid 2008. In an announcement at AOPA Expo in Hartford, Conn., Cessna officials said the decision to offer the diesel came after extensive market surveys and flight testing. "The Skyhawk is already the best-selling, most-flown airplane ever with more than 43,000 delivered and this option further expands the market due to the worldwide availability of Jet A fuel," said John Doman, Cessna vice president of propeller aircraft sales. Cessna will install the engines at its Independence, Kan., factory under the supplementary type certificate already held by Thielert. The engine is a two-liter adaptation of a Daimler automotive diesel that's been re-engineered for aviation use. It's a dual overhead cam, in-line four-cylinder engine that puts out 155 hp. It comes with full authority digital engine control and is turbocharged. The liquid-cooled engine drives a three-bladed, composite constant speed prop. The new designation of the aircraft is the Skyhawk TD. A Cessna news release did not contain pricing information. (AVweb 10/4/07) DieselAir Comment: The 172 will come equipped with the new 155HP Thielert engine, and we already said why this is great news. We are waiting for a figure for empty weight. However we expect that this product will perform better than the 172 135 HP, which was somewhat underpowered for its weight. We expect price with usual Cessna avionics to be close to 300,000 US dollars in the US. posted at 1:41 AM |
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