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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.
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News of August 01, 2011Centurion is at AirVenture in Oshkosh and makes an announcement.From July 25 to 31, Centurion Aircraft Engines AG & Co. KG will be presenting its Centurion-series diesel aircraft engines for general aviation aircraft on Booth 98. The company has reported excellent figures regarding the reliability and safety of its engines. The amount of cumulative flight time logged has risen by half a million hours, a figure that shows just how intensively these engines have been operated by Centurion’s loyal customers. The Centurion-series engines stand out thanks to their unique level of fuel efficiency and their reliability. In contrast to the competition, these engines have been developed so that these, having the same weight, can be installed without modifying or replacing the cowlings. It is precisely this fact that makes their use in a variety of manned and unmanned aircraft possible and makes replacing the Centurion 1.7 with the Centurion 2.0 very simple in all aircraft. Both engines have an above-average level of reliability. According to the FAA, engines used in general aviation experience an average of ten engine failures or “in-flight shutdowns” (IFSDs) every 100,000 flight hours. The shutdown rate of Centurion engines is around 50 percent lower and has been reduced even further since the last EAA AirVenture a year ago. Taking the period since its introduction onto the market in 2003 into consideration, the shutdown rate for all Centurion engine models is 5.46 per every 100,000 flight hours. In fact, measured over the last 52 weeks, the shutdown rate of the most recent engine model, the Centurion 2.0, has been just 2.32 IFSDs per 100,000 flight hours, thus being the most reliable piston engine for use in general aviation. Naturally, the Centurion 2.0 possesses various advantages over the 1.7 thanks to all the experience gained from the field with its predecessor. During the same period the cumulative flight time of the Centurion fleet rose by half a million hours to reach 2.7 million hours. “Around 1.36 million of the flight hours account for Centurion 1.7, and with its introduction onto the market in 2002 we encouraged the market to develop alternative propulsion systems for small aircraft and UAVs. Its successors, the serially-produced Centurion 2.0 and the Centurion 2.0s, have generated 1.34 million flight hours to date. Well over 3,000 Centurion engines have already been delivered in total,” explained Centurion CEO Jasper M. Wolffson, who also said: “Centurion engines do not emit any lead, and emissions of nitrogen and hydrocarbons are considerably lower in comparison to avgas engines. Moreover, Centurion engines basically consume less fuel and adhere to strict noise pollution regulations. So they are not affected by the EPA’s initiatives or by lawsuits like those in California. Centurion engines are fit for the future both commercially and ecologically as they can run on standard kerosene-type jet fuel and are not reliant on aviation gasoline or avgas,” Comment: A year ago, one could be skeptical about the future of Thielert GmbH reorganized out of Chapter 11 by Centurion and publicly known to be for sale, finding no buyers. The engine was criticized for its complexity and costly maintenance. Well, it found no buyers so far but the hard fact is that between 98 and 99% of diesel airplanes flying in the world are equipped with their engine, either 1.7 or 2.0 liters, plus a certain amount of Drones. It is clear that the business is a going concern, generating a positive cash flow and able to service customers; and that the planes keep flying. Of course one can expect that it needs funding to pursue further other developments, notably engines of over 300HP where most of the dollar value of the market is. But meanwhile, it is business as usual in Saxony. Centurion will make history in being the first to demonstrate that the aero diesel is viable. posted at 1:40 AM |
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