Diesel Aircraft

[Flyboy]

DIESEL-POWERED CESSNA CROSSES THE NATION
Recognizing that the long-term availability of avgas looks bleak, an
international consortium flew a Cessna 182 recently from Daytona Beach,
Florida, to Carlsbad, California, in 16 hours running on Jet-A fuel.
The 230-hp SMA SR305-230 turbodiesel engine was tested at 100 percent
power the whole trip and showed a 40-percent increase in range over
regular avgas engines, according to Riley Aero International, the company
that is pursuing a supplemental type certificate (STC) for the 182. The
company also said the fixed-gear airplane flew at 153 knots at 12,000 feet,
compared to 139 kt for a stock 182 and ran much quieter. FAA certification
for the installation is expected early next year. Hartzell, meanwhile, is
working to certify propellers for the engine. Other manufacturers, including
Maule, Socata, and Cirrus, are evaluating the engine conversion. Riley
estimates the cost of the upgrade at $110,000, including prop and a full
authority digital engine control (FADEC) system. The target TBO is 3,000
hours.

[morgan]

Diesel fuel = jet fuel anyway right? But your report concerns a cylinder fired engine, not a jet engine I suppose.

I have flown on NASA's KC-135 Vomit Comet (Reduced Gravity Flight Program) for 2 weeks over the past year. What a blast! And diesel powered! You should see the smoke that billows out of this thing when it takes off :D . They aren't afraid to ram the throttle control on that thing (very liberal fuel budget). This is the "Zero Gravity" plane used to make scenes from "Apollo 13". It is used mainly for scientific experimentation, as was my experience on it.

[Flyboy]

Yes, this is a piston engine, with aluminum heads no less!! There are several manufactures working on aircraft diesel engines.

[Bonanza78]

I think Teledyne is doing a Diesel, as part of NASA's GAP program. NASA is trying to find ways to make flying more affordable for the little guys, and that diesel and the EJ22 turbine are some of the ways they are trying to do it.They are lighter, cheaper and more fuel effiecient than current engines.

Jason

[turbobill]

Bonanza78,

It's gonna take alot more than a diesel to make flying affordable for the little guy :D

BTW, I read last week in one of those papers laying around an FBO that there is a twin engine diesel plane coming to market in the next few years. (that's what the manufacturer said anyway) I can't recall who the manufacturer is (they are already building singles), but I believe they are in Germany. From the picture, it appeared to be a 4 place airplane. It is supposed to cruise on 10 gallons per hour.

[Bonanza78]

I hear that...

Rumor is the first run of the Eclipse 500 is locked in at a max of $785,000. That equates to less than just the 2 engines on a CitationJet.

Still a heckuvalot more than I will probably ever see.

I saw the diesel Teledyne at Oshkosh in 2000, would make a fun conversation piece to have in the garage...

[turbobill]

If one of those "turned up" in my garage, it would find its way onto an airplane.

Probably to big for my KR2 :D