Aircraft Diesel Engines

[wcaldwell]

I was looking through Aviation Now and found an article about diesel engines in new aircraft. Click on the address :



http://www.aviationnow.com



then go down to "Diesel Engines Poised to Enter General Aviation Market.



Quite intersting reading. Oo.

 

[jimk]

diesel air craft

I ww2 I think that the Germans made I think two aircraft with diesel engines but were shot down. Now I could be wrong as I saw this on TV and might have missed something. i love to watch the wings show as it is very interesting,

JIM

 

[Alan Reagan]

We developed one for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the mid 90's called the Heavy Fuel version. Had to do it so they could work off carriers. They don't like gasoline on carriers.

 

[Shovelhead]

Re: diesel air craft

Originally posted by jimk

I ww2 I think that the Germans made I think two aircraft with diesel engines but were shot down. JIM

Probably 'cuz after they added the Super-Duper turbocharger, larger injectors, MAJOR fueling box and the BHAF, they left a black smoke trail that Mr. Magoo could follow. :-laf :-laf



Either that , or they couldn't get enough power cuz' Diamler Corp. wouldn't allow them to replace the defective fuel pumps under warranty. Oo.

 

[CJ Johansson]

Weird German aircraft diesel

As I recall, the diesel engine developed for aircraft by the Germans was a rather unique design. It was a 6 cylinder 12 piston diesel. It had 2 crankshafts connected by gears, the pistons were opposed, sharing cylinders, entering from each end of a cylinder. I guess this got you essentially the effect of a 12 cylinder engine with the weight of a 6.



-cj

 

[Gene Arnold]

I just returned home from a visit to Nebraska. While there I took my son and some of my grand-kids to Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska (a great place to visit!!). They have a radial diesel aircraft engine built by Packard Motor Company in the early 1930s. The info sheet said it worked pretty well but one of the developers was killed while flying a test and the company never went ahead with it.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Re: diesel air craft

Originally posted by jimk

I ww2 I think that the Germans made I think two aircraft with diesel engines but were shot down. Now I could be wrong as I saw this on TV and might have missed something. i love to watch the wings show as it is very interesting,

JIM

The diesel aircraft engines the Germans used were very powerful and successful. In fact their HP per engine weight puts many diesels, including our BOMBed Cummins, to shame. Also their fuel efficiency was right there with the best of what there is today.



Link to the Jumo series engines



http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hzoe/ju_eng.htm

 

[n7gxz]

In WWII Cat built a copy of the Wright radial aircraft engine, in cast iron, that was used in some of the M4 Sherman tanks.



Kevin

 

[Un-Hemi]

There was a Guiberson diesel radial, a 9-cylinder air-cooled that was allegedly used for ground power units; the one I saw looked suspiciously like it would fit in the front of a helicopter. I shoulda bid on it!



http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel/Guiberson.htm



This second url shows that aviation diesels aren't as uncommon as you would think!



http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel/avrange.htm



There's also 'Zoche' in Germany that has had air-cooled radials on display at Oshkosh for many, many years, and claiming that it will be in production "Next year, Ja!" Still waiting.



A company called Delta Hawk had an inverted liquid-cooled V-4 2-stroke at OSH in 1995. They later turned it upright (big mistake, IMO) and stuck a supercharger on it. Don't know how they are progressing with it.



SNECMA (Renault) has a certified diesel air-cooled flat-4 rated at a couple of hundred horsepower that they have installed into a Cessna 182, among others, for testing.



Research continues. Maybe by the time I get my RV-7 completed, there will be a diesel engine for it.



Tom

 

[BFC]

Well if it runs on Jet-A it that far from being a diesel. You could run a C-130 on diesel or anything the burns for that matter and in any combination. 1 part Jet-a, 1 part JP5, 2 parts 100LL and 1 part Crisco and the beast will run, that just cool.



RV-7 huuu, lucky dog!

 

[The patriot]

I saw a lot of diesels in a magazine for homebuilt aircraft. I think it was put out by AOPA ??

It was for experimental craft, and had everything from power, to avionics, to airframe. All the manufacturers. I didnt get it, it was something like $35. 00.

Eric

 

[Grey Wolf]

A friend of mine got a hold of quite a few of the Guiberson's and donated them to the local schools for their shop classes. He was told that the Germans used them in their blimps. He keep one and would fire it up when he had a Diesel confab at his shop. They would start right up with a shotgun shell (Minus the pellets)as the starter!

 

[LarryB]

I was just at a friend's shop the other day looking at his Guiberson. He has one running on a stand and two more for parts. He bought them from a guy in Alaska that had them in a sawmill. He plans to put one on his Gull Wing Stinson project.



Also at a NW fly-in somewhere around here years ago (can't remember exactly where) I saw an Peitenpol Air-Camper with a VW 1. 6L turbodiesel on it.





Cool sites Tom!

 

[Un-Hemi]

Oh yeah. Thielert is making an aviation diesel that is BMW-based, I believe. It's presently installed in a Piper Cherokee for testing.



http://www.thielert.com/en/aicraft_industry/tae_125/content.html



Did you know that BMW's badge is a stylized white propeller against a blue sky?



WOW! A Guiberson on a Gull-Wing! Oo. Now, that's WAY Cool! I'd love to see that project.



Eric, I know of the manual you mentioned. The $35 kept me from buying it too. Besides, it's an encyclopedia of sorts, and I know what I want.



I'll be at Arlington again this year, soaking up all the aviation stuff... . particularly the Van's RVs. Betty Lee and I will be flying in, wx permitting. Ya goin', Larry?



As an aside, way back in the dark ages, when my Dad was still selling cars, Chrysler brought their '62 Plymouth Turbine-powered car out to Vancouver on a tour. After the dealership closed, a bunch of us got to go for a burn (!) in the thing. Like the C-130, it was reputed to be able to burn anything from perfume to peanut oil. It was kinda like the Cummins in that it took a second or so for the turbine to spool up before the thing would launch. With the free turbine, it didn't need no steenking torque converter! Sounded like a hoover, and the exhaust wasn't as acrid as a diesel. They had it idling in the showroom for quite a while, and nobody was desperate to get out. Just a faint odor of kerosene. It was also interesting to watch the factory console tach swing up to 20,000 RPM. It's unfortunate that the program never went anywhere.

 

[jimk]

turbine car

I saw the turbine car in LA a few years ago. I dont know if it is still there.

jimk

 

[David Oxland]

The AOPA article discussed several of the issues driving the interest in aircraft diesel in Europe. The main one, I think, is that 100 LL fuel is to be outlawed by over there by 2008. I think was the date.



If you do a good hunt with a search engine on "Aircraft diesel engines" you'll find about 7 companies active on the trail. Both Continental and Lycoming in the US have projects of their own.