Diesel aircraft engines and are the light jets pushing out the twins?

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

Paul Sengupta wrote:

I seem to remember a year or so ago there was a claim for
quite a good rate of climb on one engine (700fpm at 10k feet?
Something like that)

That's impressive. My Maule will only do about 300 fpm at that altitude.

With the turbocharged diesels, I think I'm correct in saying you get
full power up to 10k feet, so I don't suppose it makes a huge difference
to the rate of climb whether you're at 3k or 10k.

I don't suppose it is 700fpm since that's pretty much what the climb rate
is for the DA40 (single engine) at sea level...and the DA42 has to carry
another engine and some aerodynamic penalty. And maybe the gross
weight is higher, too...I would expect it to be since the DA40 would have
a higher payload to the tune of one engine if it didn't!

DA40 specs:
Sea level rate of climb - 780fpm.
Rate of climb at 10k ft - 590fpm.
MTOW - 1150kg.

DA42 specs (two engines running)
Sea level rate of climb - 1,730fpm.
Rate of climb at 10k ft - 1,542fpm.
MTOW - 1650kg.

http://www.diamond-air.at/en/products/DA40/facts.htm
http://www.diamond-air.at/en/products/DA42/facts.htm

The original was probably a vapour-ware figure. While I
would guess that the single engine ceiling wouldn't be that
low, I wouldn't have thought the rate of climb at 1650kg
would be blistering.

Paul