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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 August 06, 2008LoPresti Announces ‘Innovation In Aviation’ Award
 LoPresti Aviation announced on Saturday at EAA AirVenture that they have established a new annual award for ‘Innovation in Aviation,’ in honor of their founder, aircraft designer Roy LoPresti. The first winner, DeltaHawk Engines, is a small company that has worked for 12 years to bring a new diesel design to the market. ‘The persistence and creativity of this company is something of which Roy would have approved,’ the company said in a news release. LoPresti will work with the winners to help develop and market their ideas. The award will be presented every year at Oshkosh. ‘In this next year you will see their engine gain certification and we will work with them to create STC's for the burgeoning diesel market,’ LoPresti said. See: http://www.avweb.com/newspics/loprestiaward.jpg (Avweb 8/4/08) posted at 12:32 PM News of August 01, 2008Battle over diesels moves to Oshkosh
 The Austro-German battle of the diesels moved its venue to Oshkosh this week, but the combatants remained restrained and on best behavior even though they were only a few yards apart. AirVenture marked the first public static showing of the 168 hp Austro Engine AE 300 liquid cooled diesel being developed by Diamond Aircraft to replace the Thielert Aircraft Engines power plants used by some of the Diamond models until Thielert s insolvency earlier this year. Since then the supply of Thielert diesels to Diamond has ceased, crippling delivery of Diamond aircraft and leading to a very public and spiteful war of words between Thielert s liquidation administrator Dr. Bruno Kuebler and Diamond Aircraft owner and CEO Christian Dries. Austro Engine is aiming for EASA certification this fall. Its new facility aims to produce 2,000 engines a year to power Diamond Aircraft’s DA40, DA42 and DA50. Both the Austro and the Thielert designs are based on Mercedes A-class four-cylinder engines, but the AE 300 substitutes some heavier cast iron parts for the aluminum used by Thielert. Austro Engine is a consortium between Diamond Aircraft, MBtech in Germany, and other partners. Diamond had planned to switch to its own engine from Thielert anyway, but the Thielert bankruptcy has advanced the timing. Austro engines are currently being test flown extensively in the three Diamond models. Thielert, though in liquidation, displayed its Centurion engines at AirVenture. Why would a bankrupt company bother to exhibit, one might ask? Thielert sales manager Jasper Wolffson was assuring all comers that production of spare parts is continuing while more than 50 would-be investors assess taking over the ailing company. ‘We hope to have a new owner by the end of September,’ he told Aviation Week. While Diamond has claimed that more than 72 Diamonds are grounded around the world for lack of Thielert parts and more than 40 are stored at the factory without engines, Wolffson insists that the groundings are not his company’s fault. Parts are available, he says. But under German law Kübler canceled all warranties on Thielert engines in the field. At the same time he significantly raised the price of parts that operators now had to pay for parts, and told Diamond they must pay in advance for engines at a far higher price than had previously been agreed. The real issue is the gearbox and clutch on the Thielert diesel engine, which must be replaced every 300 hours at a cost (for just the parts) of 5,000 euros. Thielert had promised the first exchange for free under warranty up to 600 hours; now the warranty is canceled owners must pay, and though they can file a claim with the liquidator they are likely to receive back ‘anything from zero to 100%,’ said Wolffson. Many are choosing to wait; meanwhile their aircraft remain grounded. Wolffson allowed that the Thielert marketing strategy had been one of not being too expensive, and of encouraging operators to overlook the shortfalls of the gearbox. Now the liquidator is trying to put Thielert on a viable commercial footing before selling the company. Thielert is facing the loss of its major customer as it moves toward new ownership (some 2,500 engines are in service, mostly on Diamonds), but Wolffson said talks are continuing with Cessna on a regular basis on supplying engines for a diesel Cessna 172. Cessna, though, is holding back until it can check the pedigree of the new owners. Meanwhile the Thielert development department has actually grown during the insolvency, charged primarily with extending the life of that gearbox and clutch. ‘It would be wrong to say it is business as usual, but we are at Oshkosh to show that we are still alive,’ said Wolffson. ‘We are very, very optimistic.’ (Aviation Week 8/1/08) posted at 12:44 PM SMA Diesel Engines Available for Experimentals
 SMA, part of the SAFRAN Group, announced today that its diesel-burning engines are currently available in the new Maule M9, as well as for the Experimental Pulsar S300. The company is selling the engine to individual owners of other certified and non-certified aircraft (including the Piper Dakota and Cessna 182 and 206). The SR 305-230 engine, with 230 horsepower, has proved itself in the Cessna 182 over nearly 12 years of operation as a more fuel-efficient alternative than the OEM Continental O-470. Its FADEC system and ability to burn Jet-A or diesel fuel make it particularly attractive to kit aircraft builders who are beginning to experience difficulty finding avgas, and especially for those who live in parts of the world where avgas has become unaffordable. The SR 305-230 engine is not an inexpensive proposition for a kit builder, with price estimates for the engine running somewhere in the $75,000 range, according to SMA, but it is ready to ship today. Its performance, burning just 7.9 gph at 65% power, and long TBO (3000 hours), as well as the fact that it contains 70% fewer parts than the typical avgas-burning engine, are all attractive to builders. SMA is hoping that 12 years of developing its engine as an alternative fuel burner is about to pay off. (Kitplanes Magazine 7/31/08) DieselAir Comment: The Maule M9 diesel will be the first airplane sold with the SMA engine as original equipment. We expect this model to give Maule a new life on its world market niche of STOL taildraggers, since its performances (range, speed, fuel economy, safety) will considerably increase the possibilities of this product. posted at 12:27 PM |
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