A diesel doesn't cost any more that a piston engine. A STC'd conversion
costs more but, in a new airplane the cost should be the same.

Mike
MU-2


wrote in message
...
In rec.aviation.owning Mike Rapoport wrote:

wrote in message
...
In rec.aviation.owning Mike Rapoport
wrote:
The Caravan has a 940hp engine flat rated to 675hp. Turbines are
typically
flat rated so that the engine can make rated power to reasonable
altitudes
and temperatures without having to design the gearbox for the full
thermodynamic horsepower. To keep the comparison with piston engines
apples
to apples you need to use thermodynamic ratings.

http://www.pwc.ca/en/3_0/3_0http://w.../3_0_2_1_2.asp

OK, that explains that.

To put some numbers on things, the engines in my MU-2 have a specific
fuel
consumption of .55lb/hp/hr and a piston engine is about .45 and
diesels
can
be under .40. Huge (ship) diesels can be under .30. Compare your
model
aircraft engines with the TFE731-60 used on the Falcon 900EX which
uses
.405lb/lb thrust/hr

Aha, numbers!

So if one assumes the motivation to switch from a piston to a turbine
is
the price of gas is roughly twice Jet-A, the crossover point would be a
turbine that did about .8 (to allow for the weight difference in the
fuels).

Any idea how small (in appropriate terms of hp) current technology can
make
a turbine with that consumption?


--
Jim Pennino

That would be the economic crossover point if the engines cost the same.
Of
course a plane that needed twice the fuel (in lbs) to achieve the same
performance wouldn't have much useful load or range.

Dropping a diesel in an airplane costs a bunch. The justification is the
cost is recovered in lowered fuel costs.

Your second point is certainly valid though and a minor problem with the
diesels according to the AVweb article on them.


--
Jim Pennino

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