Here Come the Diesels
A report from Sun n Fun, 2008
It was late in the afternoon, high thin cirrus and no wind. A beautiful flying day in Sarasota, Florida. The tower issued a take-off clearance on runway 32. I advanced the power lever on the Cessna Skylane powered with an SMA Diesel engine. I thought something was wrong. I had forgotten just how quiet and smooth the engine was. I was on my way to Plant City so the airplane could be used as a demo during the Sun ‘n Fun show at Lakeland.
All you had to do was overlook the mud and the show was outstanding. My main interest was diesel engines. SMA, Thielert and Deltahawk were represented and I am going to focus on each of them separately. The concept of each of these engines is different. They all incorporate the diesel cycle, which simply stated, differs from the ignition engine in that the air is compressed in the cylinder to a pressure which generates enough heat to ignite the fuel that is injected into the cylinder at precisely the right moment. There is no need for spark plugs and wires, magnetos and all of the problems and maintenance associated with the ignition system.
The SMA SR305-230 is a four-cycle air/oil cooled direct drive turbo charged engine developing 230 hp (You’re looking at 90 inches of manifold pressure on take off). The TAE 125-01, Thielert diesel (www.thielert.com) is also a four-cycle engine that is water cooled, utilizes a gear box and produces 135 hp. Both of these engines are FAA certificated. The Deltahawk is a two-cycle engine, water cooled direct drive engine capable of developing 160 to 200 hp with FAA certification a little way down the road. I will report on Deltahawk and Thielert in upcoming issues.
The SMA engine is certificated and currently installed in the Cessna 182 Q & R models with S & T pending. Fly Jet A, a Sarasota Florida firm (www.flyjeta.com) is the East Coast distributor of the engine and has already done several installations. At the present time the engine is only being sold for retrofit projects installed by Fly Jet A. Maule Aircraft (www.mauleairinc.com) of Moultrie GA is also close to certification of the new Maule M-9-230D powered by the SMA SR305-230 engine. Worldwide the engine has been installed in the Piper PA28-235, Vulcanaire (formerly Partenavia) and work has begun on the Piper Seneca by Fly Jet A in Sarasota Fl.
Ask Patrick Canivet of Fly Jet A: What’s so great about this engine? You will get a reply like this; “First of all, this engine was designed and built from the ground up to be an aircraft engine, with simplicity and safety being paramount. It has low (2200) rpm, no reduction gear, a mechanical backup system which provides full engine control in case of complete failure of electrical system and similar architecture to gasoline engine for easier airframe integration and maintenance. Second, economy. It uses Jet A which is less expensive than avgas, low fuel consumption and considerably lower maintenance costs.
“The retrofit cost for a Cessna 182 with no other changes is a little less than $90,000. That cost is offset by the sale of your old gasoline engine, prop, cowling and instrumentation. Finally, reduced pilot workload due to the FADEC system enhances safety and gives one more time to enjoy flying.”
At Sun ‘n Fun the SMA exhibit was represented by Thierry Saint Loup, the North America Customer Support Manager for SMA engines (www.smaengine.com) as well as Luc Pelon, President of SMA and Alain-Pierre Deniau, Senior Vice President. One of the highlights of the diesel presence at Sun n’ Fun was a forum conducted by Thierry Saint Loup titled, “Safe, Clean & cost effective flying with SMA Diesel Engine.” In this forum Thierry addressed the threats to GA’s future, ie high operating costs, environmental pressures, avgas availability and user fees.
He illustrated just how the SMA engine with lower fuel consumption, lower noise pollution and a lower operating cost could help to alleviate these threats. He concluded his presentation with a very thorough discussion of the SMA engine. He covered the technical characteristics and benefits. He discussed the power curve, fuel consumption, maintenance and the engine control system. He wrapped up the forum with information on the STC, accumulated flight experiences, customer support and the structure of the company and its parent company, Safran Group. No doubt this forum will be repeated at Oshkosh and if you are interested in diesel, you won’t want to miss it.
I spent the entire week at Sun ‘n Fun at the SMA Booth talking with pilots about diesel technology. The fear of not being able to get avgas was stronger than the fear of prices going higher. One gentleman told me he had to go 200 miles to get avgas. Another person told me there are six countries in Africa where avgas does not exist. We need a solution. Diesel is one that is available now. The opportunity to experience the quiet power, the smoothness and the quick starting of the SMA diesel is coming to New England. Plans are for Fly Jet A to bring a diesel-equipped Cessna Skylane to NH in late May or early June for the purpose of demonstrating the benefits of diesel power. If you want more information, want to arrange a demo flight or just want to talk about diesels, you can email me: n8895h@hotmail.com or check out the websites I’ve included here.
By Jim Rutherford