Practically Classics Forum

Luxobarge wrote:

Richard Moss wrote:Because jet engines use kero-based fuel, the fuel is readily available at most airports and so it makes sense to use it in the diesel piston engines too.

Eh? In all my days as a pilot I've never seen a diesel piston aero engine! What were/are they fitted to?

The Hindenburg

Prehaps not the best advert for the breed I admit

Weren't some German bombers diesel-engined? Something about Dorniers springs to mind.

No, it was Junkers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_diesel_engine

Luxobarge wrote:

Richard Moss wrote:Because jet engines use kero-based fuel, the fuel is readily available at most airports and so it makes sense to use it in the diesel piston engines too.

Eh? In all my days as a pilot I've never seen a diesel piston aero engine! What were/are they fitted to?

Increasingly popular these days - for both tax and economy reasons.

The initial leaders were the German company Thielert who modified thee A class 1.7 diesel for aeroplane use, upgrading to a 2.0L a while later - both produced 135bhp and used half the fuel of an equivalent petrol aero engine, and the fuel was also half the price meaning 75% reduction in fuel costs. Neither proved very reliable although they were smoother than Lycoming petrol engines -and warranty claims drove the company out of business (not helped by the boss 'diverting' company money into his personal account). Now trading as Centurion Engines http://www.centurion-engines.com/typo3/ ... p?id=2&L=1

In response, the main user of Thielert engines (Diamond Aircraft of Vienna) developed their own Mercedes based AE300 engine - a 170bhp 2.5L with steel block. Smoother and more reliable than the Centurion and almost as economical despite the extra power. http://austroengine.at/en/products We run AE300 equipped Diamond DA42s and apart from a rash of ECU problems at the moment, they've been quite good. The engine has 2 ECUs and if one throws up a problem, itautomatically switches to the second but it still means having to cut the flght short.

As previously stated, many WW2 large German aircraft were diesel powered and the fuel was mostly synthesised from coal, I believe. I have also heard of people fitting 2.4L VM Jeep/Rover/Ford/Range Rover/Alfa engines into aircraft like Chipmunks for glider towing.

Diesels work quite well for aircraft because of the high torque at low RPM which suits a propellor. Also the turbos help to maintain power as the aircraft climbs into thinner air. They also tend to be easier to handle than petrol aero engines due to the ECU controlling the mixture,rather than thepi.ot havingto guess at it when doing it manually.

My thinking is this:

An EFI system is less likely to break and is likely to provide better performance, driveability and economy.

However, when it does break, it's likely to be a tow truck job. You can't bodge it up enough to keep it running.

If I was going on trip across the world in one of my cars I'd rather have a carburetor one simply because it's easy to fix. I like electronic ignition, but as already suggested I carry a spare dizzy with points fitted in case it fails.

Cheers,