 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
When will a diesel be available for my aircraft? |
|
News, facts, and comments on the coming revolution for piston-engine aircraft.News of June 21, 2005Thielert Centurion leads the world diesel market with over 400 engines flying, demonstrates its 350HP V8 diesel on HPA's futuristic TT62 twin.Thielert Motoren GmbH was set up in Hamburg by Frank Thielert in 1989, occupied initially with the restoration of Italian and other antique sportscars and racecars, and technical support to motorsports. It gradually became an engine specialist advising racing-teams and supplying engines elements and components to Lotus, Porsche and others. In 2000, Thielert engaged into aero diesels with the foundation of subsidiary Thielert Aero Engines (TAE) in Lichtenstein, Germany. Today the facilities of the group produce engine components and operation for the aviation and automotive industry as well as for motorsports, and jet fuel diesel aero engines of the CENTURION line for General Aviation. The photograph you will see by visiting http://info.thielert.com/tae_en/main/fototour/fototour.php?catid=5&picid=105 showing in formation a Cessna 172, a Diamond DA40, a Robin 135 CDI and a Piper PA28, all using the Centurion 135 HP, illustrates the impressive impact of Thielert's Centurion engine. Thielert now is a group of 220 employees (of which 150 with TAE) generating sales around $ 40 million. It has manufactured over 650 Centurion 1.7 (2003: 216; 2004: 405; 2005 goals: 700) which makes it clearly the world leader. Over 400 of them are flying in general aviation aircraft with cumulated 60.000 flight hours. The engine is certified in 17 different aircraft types. The retrofits for the Cessna 172 K, L, M, N, P, R and S are now FAA certified. Very soon the FAA certification for the Piper PA28 will follow. In Europe they are waiting for the Robin DR400 certification. It will be the 3rd OEM aircraft. In April Thielert announced that Centurion now has 8 representative sales partners worldwide. Over 60 authorised and audited service centres, spread across more than 20 countries, guarantee service for engines. More service centres have already been trained this year. However, things are not moving as fast as one could want in the US. EPIC Aviation is Centurion's sales representative but only for Latin America so far. Diamond Aircraft is taking orders for the DA 40 and 42 diesels but has refitted the DA 42 to Lycoming as an option because of lack of technical support so far. A common misperception of Thielert is that they would be somewhat affiliated to DaimlerChrysler and dependent on them for supply of key engine components. DaimlerChrysler is one of their customers for automotive prototype components, and does supply engine parts. Thielert has contracts with them for future parts deliveries, and is excluded contractually in all questions of liability. Blueprints, drawings and procedures are Thielert's own design (Gearbox, complete electronic system with FADEC, intake manifold, exhaust and cooling system etc.). The Thielert crankshaft is in forged steel and is original. So are the turbo charger (from Garrett), the high pressure pump and the common rail injection system (from Bosch). The origins of the Centurion 135HP are unquestionably in automotive (Mercedes diesel 2.2 liter), but it is not a conversion of an existing motor diesel; and the V-8 350 HP is an entirely new design. The most comprehensive test report on the 172 Thielert is from a French pilot magazine, and is very positive. When comparing the 172 Thielert and the 182 SMA one must remember that a diesel (which is utrbocharged) maintains power with altitude much better than a non-turbocharged gasoline engine. With 135 HP and a constant speed propeller, the 172 offers basically the same performance than a O-320 172 with a fixed pitch prop. With 230HP at 2,200rpm and a three blade prop, the 182 SMA is a bit faster and climbs faster than a O-470 182 of 230HP at 2,300rpm with a two blade prop. Note that the initial conversion of an existing single engine is complex and costly because it requires major modifications of the whole engine mount and cooling system of an aircraft which was designed for Opposite piston air cooled engines. If the plane has a retractable gear the conversion is even more complex because of the front wheel well taking a lot of space. We guess the conversion of a conventional twin with engines in the wings should be easier. posted at 5:20 PM |
Previous Posts
The DieselAir Newsletter Forum is ready!
|
