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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.In 1998, one diesel engine flew on a converted airplane for the first time since 1945. Today, close to 4,000 singles and twins are flying. This is the beginning of a worldwide trend which will eventually allow a rebirth of the piston-engined aircraft, around new specs and new missions. DieselAir Research, Inc., the publisher of The DieselAir Newsletter, offers strategic intelligence services to the aircraft industry, its suppliers and its customers who ambition to benefit from this global change of paradigm which will mean new markets, new concepts, new services, new materials and components… You may be interested in our services if your firm designs and/or manufactures aircraft and components, aero engines, avionics, propellers and engine components, fuel systems or additives, advanced materials, or industry specific machinery for manufacturing of these; or provides aviation services such as fuel production or distribution; flight training, aircraft chartering, maintenance and operations (FBO’s); or airport management and design, traffic control, hangar, materials handling and storage equipment; or consulting and financial services for these industries; or advertising, sales promotion, trade shows, specialized publications. To know more, send a confidential email inquiry to Dr. Eng. André Teissier-duCros at atc@geanoverseas.com News of June 21, 2005Thielert, SMA and Delta Hawk: Same old engine philosophies competing together, plus 2-stroke engine as wild cardThielert and SMA are following the opposite piston engine philosophies which co-exist in aviation since WW1: Radial or opposite cylinder, air/oil cooled engine with the prop directly on the crankshaft, against In-line engine, liquid cooled, running faster than the prop which is geared: during WW2, Pratt & Whitney R-2800 (Thunderbolt, Corsair, Hellcat…) against Rolls Royce Merlin (Spitfire, Mustang…)! And 2-stroke diesels (Delta Hawk, Wilksch, Zoche…) are going to add to the debate. But as of now it is difficult to talk about competition: all aero diesel manufacturers are helping each other creating the market and giving credibility to the diesel concept, and any one getting into trouble would hurt the others. Also it is difficult to anticipate if a technology will clearly take the lead until more STC's show clearly which solution offers a significantly high TBO with the highest Power/Weight Ratio, measured for the whole aircraft and not simply for the naked engine. We expect that, the bigger the diesel engine, the better it will compare with the equivalent gasoline engine because of its smaller cylinder size and overall cubic capacity. So, the future diesel market will eventually, dollarwise, be for 300-400HP engines flying intensively. A 600HP engine is more questionable because it would compete head-on with turboprop solutions, but possible because of its tremendous fuel consumption advantage, especially at economy cruise. posted at 5:29 PM |
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