Author: "Bob Hassel" <bob@...> Time: Wed Oct 30, 2002 6:51 am PST Link
Wed, Oct 30 2002
Diesels In The Sky
By ANN Correspondent Pete Combs
When you think "diesel," you think 18-wheelers. Mercedes that seem to last
forever. Generators. Airplanes.
Airplanes? Yup.
By the end of the year, Superior Air Parts hopes to have FAA certification
for the Centurion TAE 125, a 135-hp diesel engine being retrofitted into
Cessna 172s and Piper PA-28s. The Centurion is built by Thielert TAE, a
manufacturer based in Lichtenstein, Germany, and is already certified by the
JAA in Europe and the LBA in Germany.
"We anticipate FAA approval in the very near future," says Superior's Terry
Wood, as AOPA Expo wrapped up Saturday afternoon.
The Centurion TAE 125 is a 1.7 liter engine that boasts a revolutionary
engine management system. Forget fiddling with the mixture. No more complex
prop controls.
This engine employs FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control). It's all
digital. And every time you go in for an oil change or any other sort of
engine maintenance, the A&P downloads data from the engine's onboard
computer and sends it off in an e-mail to the factory. "There's just one
lever to control the engine," boasts Wood. "There are two CPUs in the engine
for redundancy."
Wood predicts the TAE 125 will last a lot longer than the average 2000 hour
time between overhauls for most normally aspirated aircraft prop engines. In
fact, there is no TBO.
"There is a 2400 hour TBR," says Wood. That's "To Be Replaced." This $20,000
engine is, for all intents and purposes, disposable. Replacing it, Wood
claims, is cheaper than overhauling a $23,000 Lycoming IO-360.
"People are starved for new technology," he says.
"Lycoming and Continental [the two biggest manufacturers of general aviation
piston engines] are based on 1940s technology."
Superior claims there are other big-time advantages to this engine. The
company says there are fewer emissions. Instead of running on 100LL, the
only leaded gasoline still made in America, the TAE 125 runs on diesel fuel
or Jet-A. "The 1.7 runs at 2300 rpm at cruise, versus 2800 rpm [sounds like
a fast cruise to me --ed.] for normally-aspirated engines. There's less
noise," says Wood.
As Aero-News reported last Summer, Diamond Aircraft is planning to offer
Theilert diesels in its forthcoming new DA-42 Twinstar, as well as in its
single-engine four-place aircraft.
FMI: www.superior-air-parts.com
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Bob Hassel
Email: bob @ hassel-usa.com
URL: http://www.hassel-usa.com
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin
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