Diamond DA-40 with G-1000 pirep

There is a good argument, potentially, cost of operation.

The Centurion could, if well supported, and up to its marketing, replace
about every engine in the 140 to 180 HP range. That is a lot of engines.
Only problem is the chicken and the egg.

Who will pay to get all the mechanics trained? Will they put together good
english manuals, pdf's, videos? Will there be someone to call during normal
US hours who speaks english and knows the engine and the FAA regs?

100LL is not necessarily going away, but its possible that when it does, it
will go quickly. Also, the less we use, the more expensive it will get ( at
least that is my guess, perhaps someone else knows better.)




"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...


Dan Luke wrote:

"Thomas Borchert" wrote:
In Europe, the Diesel is a total winner.

It should be here, too.

There's no good argument for using them in the States. Gas isn't that much
more
expensive (if at all) than Jet-A, and gas is readily available in the
lower 48. When
that changes, you'll see more diesels here. Do a comparison of the diesel
and gas
Maules. The diesel costs more, is slower (due to cooling drag), and
carries less
weight (the engine weighs more). I also think it's pretty ugly, with that
Hawker
Typhoon style cowling, but that's a personal opinion.

George Patterson
In Idaho, tossing a rattlesnake into a crowded room is felony
assault.
In Tennessee, it's evangelism.

Dude,

The Centurion could, if well supported, and up to its marketing, replace
about every engine in the 140 to 180 HP range.


IMHO, the Centurion 1.7 simply is lacking the necessary power. 135 HP is
not enough. The sma design has its problems, namely weight, size and
price. But Thielert has seen the light: A V8, 300-HP version is in the
works for 2006, and a 6-cylinder around-200-HP version is at least
rumoured about.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Ahh, but they, Thielert, have no plans to support the engine in the US (
nor does Superior). They think the plane manufacturers should do this.
Textron is delighted, as this will mean that they can continue to control
the business that has the best chance of defeating them. Diamond has
decided to offer Lycoming engines as an alternate for the Twin Star (which
must really please Textron)

btw- It's enough horsepower for the skyhawk and cherokee planes.

"Thomas Borchert" wrote in message
...
Dude,

The Centurion could, if well supported, and up to its marketing, replace
about every engine in the 140 to 180 HP range.


IMHO, the Centurion 1.7 simply is lacking the necessary power. 135 HP is
not enough. The sma design has its problems, namely weight, size and
price. But Thielert has seen the light: A V8, 300-HP version is in the
works for 2006, and a 6-cylinder around-200-HP version is at least
rumoured about.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Dude,

Diamond has
decided to offer Lycoming engines as an alternate for the Twin Star (which
must really please Textron)


Diamond has been bitten before when introducing a new engine to the US
market, the Rotax. So they're careful. The US market is strongly in the grip
of what I like to call "pilot inertia", as evident here in the group. "We've
always done it that way, so we'll keep doing it that way" is strong in the
pilot community. Also, a large part of the Twin Star market in the US is the
training market - and that market simply won't accept one-lever operation,
since it doesn't train for the real world of twin ops.

btw- It's enough horsepower for the skyhawk and cherokee planes.


Well, yes, kind of, at least in the case of the Cherokee. We have a
commercial Thielert-172 operator at my home field doing sightseeing flights
and such - he absolutely LOVES it.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Thomas Borchert wrote:

Diamond has
decided to offer Lycoming engines as an alternate for the Twin Star (which
must really please Textron)

Diamond has been bitten before when introducing a new engine to the US
market, the Rotax. So they're careful.

It's not only this.

First, as you've mentioned, the Thielert engine has not very much power.
So there is still a demand for the stronger Lycoming engine.

Second, Diamond is well aware that the first buyers of the Thielert
engine are beta testers. They have never made a secret out of this. So
they decided to sell the Diesel version only near their factory until
they have collected enough experience. Makes a lot of sense to me.

Stefan

"Thomas Borchert" wrote in message
...
Dude,

Diamond has
decided to offer Lycoming engines as an alternate for the Twin Star
(which
must really please Textron)


Diamond has been bitten before when introducing a new engine to the US
market, the Rotax. So they're careful. The US market is strongly in the
grip
of what I like to call "pilot inertia", as evident here in the group.
"We've
always done it that way, so we'll keep doing it that way" is strong in the
pilot community.

The US pilot community is that way for a reason. The performance of the
Rotax was miserable. Embry-Riddle ended up getting rid of all their Katanas
because of it.

C,

The US pilot community is that way for a reason.

Well, sometimes yes, sometimes no.

The performance of the
Rotax was miserable. Embry-Riddle ended up getting rid of all their Katanas
because of it.


Then it may have been miserable for their mission (Prescott, AZ, anyone?).
But that doesn't mean it was unsuitable for others.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Was it the performance, or the lack of any idea how to fix the things, or
the amount of scheduled and non scheduled downtime?



"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

"Thomas Borchert" wrote in message
...
Dude,

Diamond has
decided to offer Lycoming engines as an alternate for the Twin Star
(which
must really please Textron)


Diamond has been bitten before when introducing a new engine to the US
market, the Rotax. So they're careful. The US market is strongly in the
grip
of what I like to call "pilot inertia", as evident here in the group.
"We've
always done it that way, so we'll keep doing it that way" is strong in
the
pilot community.

The US pilot community is that way for a reason. The performance of the
Rotax was miserable. Embry-Riddle ended up getting rid of all their
Katanas
because of it.

"Dude" wrote in message
...
Was it the performance, or the lack of any idea how to fix the things, or
the amount of scheduled and non scheduled downtime?


I understood it was both.

Dude wrote:

100LL is not necessarily going away, but its possible that when it does, it
will go quickly.

Oh, it will. According to the speaker at a seminar on gasoline at Oshkosh a few years
ago, there is currently only one plant making tetraethyl lead. It's in Britain. They
have announced that they will be closing down within eight years due to a decreasing
market and the age of their equipment. I would expect that, if it is uneconomical for
that company to upgrade their equipment, it will not be economical for any other firm
to build a new plant and enter the market. Maybe the Chinese could, however.

George Patterson
In Idaho, tossing a rattlesnake into a crowded room is felony assault.
In Tennessee, it's evangelism.