Future Turbine Aircraft

Retrofitting diesels on existing airplanes doesn't make much sense in the
US, where the fuel cost differences between 100LL and Jet-A are relatively
small. However, using diesels on new airplanes makes a lot of sense. If
you look at the price of a Diamond plane in Europe, the diesel version is
actually about $5,000 cheaper than the same airplane with a Lycoming engine.
For less money, you get better mileage and FADEC. For an FBO or a flying
club, that has a lot of pilots putting a lot of hours on their airplanes,
saving money on gas, and potentially saving on maitnenance because pilots
are not over-leaning or shock cooling the engines, could make a BIG
difference in the operating costs of the planes.

Mike Schumann

"Thomas Borchert" wrote in message
...
They are pricey now (although still lots cheaper
than turbines)


They are? You consider 40,000 $ one-time retrofit cost on a 172 and
20,000 $ replacement cost after 2400 hours (with a full guarantee for
those 2400 hours) expensive, compared to your average Lycoming with
Pete knows how many top overhauls until TBO? I'm not sure...

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)