When Tecnam unveiled its P2010 TDI in late May 2020, it shone a spotlight on the newest engine from Continental Aerospace Technologies: The CD-170 engine.
The development of the engine — which burns Jet-A, kerosene or diesel — means Continental, which has been manufacturing engines since 1905, is “looking to the future,” says Chris Kuehn, vice president of sales and marketing for the Mobile, Alabama-based company.
And it’s a future that looks bright.
Since making the announcement that Tecnam chose the CD-170, Continental has seen a lot of interest from both airplane manufacturers and the public in the new engine.
The CD-170 is the newest design and highest horsepower engine in the CD-100 series family of liquid-cooled, turbocharged, four-cylinder, fuel-injected, compression-ignition, four-stroke aircraft engines with Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) dual channel engine controls.
More than 6,000 of the CD-100 engines have been delivered, racking up more than 7.1 million flight hours in service.
The CD-170 has several key differences from the other engines in the series, including a lower compression ratio that allows for more power, electronic engine monitoring, and an enhanced fuel system that offers an additional level of redundancy, according to Continental officials.
Introduced in 2018, the CD-170 was set to make its debut on the Piper Seminole. Unfortunately, that project experienced delays and has not yet reached the GA market.
That meant Italy-based Tecnam became the first OEM to certify an airplane with the new engine.
“And we’re very excited to launch our newest Jet-A engine,” Kuehn says. “This new partnership with Tecnam, a predominant airframer based in Europe, allows us to bring value to pilots in regions of the world that need Jet-A in order to fly.”
He notes that it’s generally in places outside of North America — where 100LL is hard to find and, if you can find it, extraordinarily expensive — where pilots realize the value of Jet-A-burning engines.
Continental officials also are excited that the first airplane to be certified with the CD-170 is a trainer.
“We’re very excited to have a certified high wing trainer with the 170 and Tecnam hits a very nice value point for pilots and schools,” Kuehn says.
Both Continental and Tecnam officials see the training market as the primary market for the new P2010 TDI, especially in areas where avgas is not available.
“The P2010 remains a modern aircraft for flight schools and private owners,” says Paolo Pascale, Tecnam CEO. “With Continental’s Jet-A/diesel engine, the P2010 TDI is simply the ‘ideal aircraft’, combining a modern, sleek, ‘green’ design with consistent, robust power.”
Besides interest from other OEMs, Continental also is hearing from aircraft owners who want to upgrade their CD-155 installations or consider a new engine, according to Kuehn.
“It’s all about getting more performance out of the same footprint,” he explains. “We did it once already going from the 135 to the 155, and now we’ve been able to evolve it from the 155 to the 170.”
Many aircraft owners have asked if Continental plans to update the STC retrofit to allow them to move up to the CD-170 engine.
Unfortunately, that’s not in the cards right now, Kuehn reports.
And that comes down to the additional power in the new engine.
“It would take a great deal of money and time to basically redo that STC,” he says. “So we encourage those customers that they can still do the 155 retrofit.”
Then, later if the company is able to update the STC, those owners will be able to do the upgrade as the engines are the same “form factor,” he says.
Trying Times
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the marketing of the new engine in a number of ways, including training and maintenance.
Because the pandemic has slowed everything in the country, A&Ps haven’t had a chance to be “exposed” to the new engine, Kuehn says.
“If they have a customer who wants to upgrade their Cessna 172 or Pipers, we offer retrofit kits for those,” he says. “A&Ps are also looking for training to support those pilots flying with the new engines.”
Usually Continental offers training every other month to maintenance professionals. With the COVID-19 restrictions it hasn’t been able to do any training.
“We were going to return to training in July, but unfortunately here in Alabama, we’ve had a tremendous spike in the last week and we’ve had to go back to phase one as a company and have to postpone those again.”
And then there’s the low fuel prices.
When fuel prices are high, there’s more interest in engines that burn Jet-A and diesel.
“About two years ago, we had some pretty large training fleets that were really considering it based on the price of fuel,” he says. “Now with the price of fuel so cheap, we’re not seeing that interest.”
“But when fuel prices go up, that’s when we’ll see more interest,” he says.
A Bridge From 100LL to Jet-A
While avgas-fueled engines are still the norm, especially in North America, Continental officials see the CD family of engines as “the bridge” for owners to make the switch.
“Since Jet-A is cleaner and more available worldwide, it’s very safe for a plane owner,” Kuehn says.
But for now, avgas-burning engines remain Continental’s “bread and butter,” he notes.
He estimates general aviation has between 10 and 20 more years with avgas.
Of course, there are a lot of factors that could change that estimate, including the delays and difficulties in the government program tasked with finding an unleaded avgas.
And then there’s the concern that Innospec, the only company in the world that makes Tetra Ethyl Lead — an essential additive in avgas — will stop making it.
Knowing all this, Continental invested in two companies in 2019 that are developing alternative electric and hybrid electric systems. Kuehn notes that Continental officials stay abreast of what the new developments are, while officials with the two start-ups leverage Continental’s more than 100 years manufacturing airplane powerplants.
“We want to make sure we place careful bets with the right technologies as they continue to grow,” he says. “We are looking to the future.”
