Centurion Aircraft Engines AG & Co. KG is showing off its diesel aircraft engines this week at AirVenture.
Officials with the German company report the amount of cumulative flight time logged by the fleet has risen by half a million hours, to reach 2.7 million hours.
“Around 1.36 million of the flight hours account for Centurion 1.7, and with its introduction on to the market in 2002 we encouraged the market to develop alternative propulsion systems for small aircraft and UAVs. Its successors, the serially-produced Centurion 2.0 and the Centurion 2.0s, have generated 1.34 million flight hours to date. Well over 3,000 Centurion engines have already been delivered in total,” said Centurion CEO Jasper M. Wolffson.
The Centurion-series engines have been developed so that they have the same weight as conventional GA engines and can be installed without modifying or replacing the cowlings, he added. “It is precisely this fact that makes their use in a variety of manned and unmanned aircraft possible and makes replacing the Centurion 1.7 with the Centurion 2.0 very simple in all aircraft,” he said.
Since the engines do not emit any lead, they are not affected by the EPA’s initiatives or by lawsuits like those in California, officials said. “Centurion engines are fit for the future both commercially and ecologically as they can run on standard kerosene-type jet fuel and are not reliant on aviation gasoline or avgas,” said Wolffson. “Not only are they independent from avgas, Centurion engines also have a whole range of other ecological advantages: They do not give off lead, and emissions of nitrogen and hydrocarbons are considerably lower in comparison to avgas engines. Moreover, Centurion engines basically consume less fuel and adhere to strict noise pollution regulations.”
For more information: Centurion.aero
The claim that a diesel engine emits less nitrogen (oxides) than a comparable gasoline engine is rather rich. Wondering if it was easy for Mr. Wolffson to keep the straight face while saying that.