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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 July 18, 2007Diamond claims it will build their own GA diesel engine!Diamond Aircraft Industries (DAI) in collaboration with Austro Engine GmbH (both headquartered in Wiener Neustadt, Austria) and other distinguished partners including Mercedes Benz Technology (MB-Tech, Germany) has introduced a 170 HP Turbo Diesel Engine with a maximum torque of 570Nm. The engine has made its initial test flight in a DA40 Diamond Star. Diamond Aircraft Industries CEO Christian Dries and Sören Pedersen, DAI’s Managing Test Pilot were both enthusiastic after carrying out the maiden flight together. The engine shows high performance and is economical at the same time. Compared to conventional engines, the implementation of combustion technology developed by MB Tech has lowered the overall fuel consumption by 20% while keeping identical performance, according to a DAI press release. “As the worlds’ biggest manufacturer of aircraft with diesel engines, it was obvious that Diamond Aircraft Industries would strive to perfect the new generation of JetA1 GA engines for serial production”, a company spokesman said. (Aeromarkt 7/16/07) DieselAir Comment: The information on this new diesel aero engine is remarkably vague. 20% fuel savings on a conventional engine? Meaning a gasoline engine? That would not be exceptional. On a diesel engine such as the Thielert? Now, that would indeed be a breakthrough. What is the net weight of the DA 40 with said engine? Our impression is that this is another case of an automobile engine installed on an airplane. Several experimentals and prototypes are trying this with various European automobile diesels modified to fit in a plane. The result tends to be on the heavy side, the new plane showing an increased weight and the engine with ancillaries showing a higher weight per HP. Which does not prevent the plane from flying! Getting an engine certification and then an STC is another story. Besides, Diamond and Thielert have been very successful together and are leading the aero-diesel market: Does this mean that anyone considering buying a Diamond diesel should hold back his purchase order and wait for the Austro Engine to be certified? When? We tried to reach Diamond Air for clarification but had no answer yet. We understood that Austro Engine GmbH is a subsidiary of Diamond Aircraft. More on this later. posted at 5:12 AM |
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