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Coninental/Thielert
So it's been 6 months since Continental (through its Chinese parent company)bought Thielert and its troublesome line of Centurion aerodiesel engines. I'm just wondering what they were thinking. The Centurion 2.0 still has a low (1200hr)TBO and the dreaded 300hr gearbox inspections, yet they have their own TD300, a version 1.0 of the SMA engine which seems to have the best tack record to date. Continental will have to spend bucketloads of cash to get it working right.
The other problem I have is how the diesel manufacturers are starting to get the engines to market. Private owners will not fly enough hrs to find all the bugs. They should be going to a flying school that flys 200,000 hrs a year, giving them a who fleet of engines to rack up hrs quickly. I do think aerodiesels will ultimately make gasoline engines obsolete, but its going to take a lot of time and even more $. |
According to Adept Airmotive :: FAQ's
Question: Why is the ADEPT Airmotive not a compression ignition (diesel) engine? Answer: Although diesel has certain advantages with regards to fuel consumption and economy, we don’t believe that compression ignition technology is best suited to GA applications. Among the reasons for this are: Poor relationship between torque and power Diesel engines have to be heavier to contain higher bearing loads Diesel engines have poor power to weight ratios Vibration Satisfactory power generation generally requires high turbo boost with related reliability problems Diesel fuel weighs more than gasoline We can meet the fuel consumption targets by using an efficient gasoline engine |
And a turbo diesel seems to be great in your truck or car, but the SMA is the best so far in a plane, and it only kicks one goal effectively, a different fuel source from avgas.
It does other things OK, but we are talking about better. No matter how the debates rage on here, it is hard to beat the physics. |
I'd say the WAM120 was better than the SMA. Different power class, but it could grow into a 300hp V6
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Troublesome ?
On first introduction I would have agreed with you but Theilert have the engine more or less sorted now.
You must also remember that the major problem that Theilert had with the engine was a result of corrosion issues that were due to electrolytic action between the cylinder head and the hear exchanger that the airframe manufacturer had fitted. Theilert converted aircraft did not have these problems because Theilert had control of the type of heat exchangers fitted. |
On first introduction I would have agreed with you but Theilert have the engine more or less sorted now. |
My sources familiar with the matter tell me that the gearbox TBO is a bit of a ruse and they are not even opened up, let alone overhauled. Inspection through an inspection plug hole at best.
They also say that the UAV engines have moved waaay beyond the capabilities of the manned version which won't be catching up any time soon due to the certification hassles. Maybe the Chinese will run things differently. |
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