NEW RICHMOND, Wis. — Engineered Propulsion Systems (EPS) mounted the first in a series of pre-production diesel engines on a test stand, and turned the key on Sept. 20.
“The engine started smoothly and ran great,” said Michael Fuchs, president and CEO. “We will begin the testing procedures tomorrow.”
Based on data collected from two earlier “concept engines,” EPS initiated a number of refinements in the design and assembly of its series of pre-production engines. After extensive tests on the Mobile Engine Test Laboratory in the U.S. and a Dynamometer facility in Germany, the engine will be shipped to Mojave, California, and mounted on an EPS-owned Cirrus where it is expected to satisfy certification criteria. Dick Rutan will conduct the flight tests.
The Graflight V-8 engine was started as a blank sheet design. The company has worked closely with Bosch to integrate new computer hardware and software that brings new levels of efficiency to diesel performance, according to company officials.
Capable of 320 to 450 horsepower, the engine was initiated as an aviation project, instead of using an automotive conversion. Spearheading the design team are two engineers, Michael Fuchs from Germany and Steven Weinzierl from the U.S., who have had experience in developing new engines ranging from one to 16 cylinders and bringing them to a production line.
“Outside of Europe and North America, diesel fuel is dominant in aviation,” said Fuchs. “The day may not be far off when it becomes the global standard, which will make the Graflight V-8 a necessity in high performance aircraft for general aviation.”
When taking into consideration two comparative factors of this diesel engine to an avgas engine; engine horse power and weight, what would be the new engine replacement cost and overhaul cost of this diesel engine compared to an avgas engine of the same horse power certified for the same airframe?
Dear Sir,
Does this engine needs reduction gear? If so, why start from scratch and will probably face gear box problems as well as costs of establishing acceptable TBO for both.
Tom
I cannot wait for an STC for Aero Commander 500 680 Series so that can start using them for aerial survey work in Africa again. Lack of Avgas is killing off GA aviation in Africa.
Continental Diesel is slowly advancing around here with the new CD 155 power plant in C172’s and Pipers already.
New diesels, sanely priced and with the problems
fixed, will be a boon to aviation. Has to be overhaulable, versus throw away.
The cool factor of having the smell of jet fuel
in the hangar can’t be overlooked, either. 🙂
The Continental TSIO 550 is around $90K new list price depending on specific model. Installed would be well past $100K with hoses, exhaust, baffles etc. If this engine can make it to market in that price range it has a chance at wide acceptance, if not it will be used by mission aviation and others working where avgas is scarce. If the latter is the case it may not be able to compete in price with low compression engines using car gas at the lower hp range or turbines at the higher power range.
It is however a grand attempt at changing the game.