Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/194874
than 2,600 aircraft have been equipped with them, it is difficult to spot them on the local airfield. Diesel engines were practically unknown in the GA world a decade ago; in the past they were too heavy and not powerful enough for aircraft use. Additionally, the conservative aviation world was reluctant to accept new engine types because avgas was cheap and the infrastructure for any "new" fuel wasn't established. Having the engine manufacturer in Germany was an additional handicap. In the meantime a lot has changed, and the demand for engines that can be operated on fuels found all over the world has increased. Many aircraft manufacturers have started looking for more fuel-efficient engines, and even conservative aircraft owners have started accepting the new technology that is similar to engines in their modern cars. One unknown factor helped Centurion diesel engines to be widely used: The military all around the world started shifting from multi-fuel use to a single fuel because their other aircraft, boats, and land vehicles were already using a diesel fuel and similar Jet A. This in part explains why a large number of Centurion engines were installed in military UAVs. The Birth of TAE Fourteen years ago, German Frank Thielert had a good idea. As an experienced mechanic whose company had manufactured parts and engines for racing cars and preproduction prototypes since 1989, Thielert wanted to revolutionize the world of aircraft engines with low-consumption diesel engines that are based on car powerplants. rail, a high-pressure fuel injection technique. This engine featured 1.7-liter (103-cubic-inch) displacement and delivered 100 kilowatts (kW) or 136 hp. Thielert saw a big advantage in the use of a turbocharged engine primarily because it was able to keep a nominal (sea-level) power up to 6,500-foot altitudes. The OM688 engine was chosen, among other reasons, because its motor block was cast aluminum and thus lightweight. At that time, other manufacturers such as VW used heavier cast iron engine blocks. This Centurion 1.7 engine was first flown in 2000, and 1,500 were produced until 2006. Many market observers were surprised with the speed at which TAE adapted the car engine for aviation purposes. The Centurion 1.7 engine's maiden flight was made in September 2000, on board a Valentin Taifun motorglider just a year after the company's founding. In early 2002 it received the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) type certificate (TC), and a year later it earned an FAA TC. FADEC For monitoring and control of the engine, Thielert developed a full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system. All engine parameters are controlled by two fully independent systems. The system regulates the high-pressure valves, common rail pressure, turbocharger, and constant-speed propeller's pitch. Furthermore, the FADEC is logging more than 30 internal and external engine parameters that can be read and processed electronically on board or on the ground with a laptop. Single Control Lever In 1999, Thielert Aircraft Engines (TAE) was established in Saxony/Germany and later integrated into the Thielert Group. TAE focused on the development of aviation diesel engines. The biggest advantage of the diesel engine per TAE is the possibility of using different, commonly used fuels such as automotive diesel and aviation jet fuels. From the beginning, Thielert's core idea about the development of new and innovative engines was based on the wide use of existing engine parts and experience gained in serial car engine production. Since the company had plenty of experience in car engine tuning and adaptation, it seemed natural to Thielert to take a modern German car diesel engine and adapt it for aviation use. The Birth of the Centurion 1.7 The Thielert designers quickly focused on the MercedesBenz OM688 automotive engine used in the compact Aclass cars of Mercedes-Benz. This was a modern, watercooled, turbo diesel engine with intercooler and common The introduction of the FADEC system allowed for the use of a single control lever for the first time in a serial production piston aircraft. This single lever controls the throttle, mixture, and propeller pitch. This system reduces pilot's cockpit workload, especially in multiengine aircraft. Reduction Gear The former car engine can't be installed in an aircraft without a propeller speed reduction unit (PSRU) to reduce the relatively high engine rpm of approximately 3900 rpm to 2300 prop revolutions per minute for efficient and quiet propeller operation. "It should not be so difficult," thought the TAE developers, so they designed and manufactured the necessary reduction gear with a reduction ratio of 1.69-to-1 because nothing similar was on the market. The reduction gear was fitted with torsion/ vibration dampeners and a clutch that allows starting EAA Experimenter 31