aircraft with diesel engines

Aircraft With Diesel Engines - Legend Aircraft selected the Superior Air Parts Gemini diesel engine as the factory option for the Legend Cub light sport aircraft. (Photo: Matt Thurber)

Legend Aircraft selected the Superior Air Parts Gemini diesel engine as the factory option for the Legend Cub light sport aircraft. The 100hp diesel engine will be available for both wheeled and floating Legend Cubs, as well as a kit version. Pricing for the diesel option has yet to be set, but should be roughly comparable to the others. engine options, according to Darin Hart, president of Legend Aircraft. The diesel engine fits into the same fairing as the Legend Cub, so no fairing modifications will be required.

Aircraft With Diesel Engines

Visitors to AirVenture Oshkosh can view a model of the engine installation in a Legend Cub at the Superior Air Parts exhibit. The engine weighs nearly 200 pounds installed and should offer similar performance to the avgas Continental O-200 Legend Cub, but with 20 percent lower fuel economy and emissions. “We are especially excited to offer the diesel option to our owners who operate in remote locations or parts of the world where 100LL avgas is expensive or hard to come by,” said Hart. "We think it will improve our sales."

Aircraft Engines New Types

The three-cylinder Gemini engine is a "uniflow" design with two opposed pistons per cylinder. While it has roughly the same profile as a Rotax 912, the uniflow design makes it a smaller engine than existing engines, giving it an advantage in power-to-weight ratio, according to Superior. Deliveries of the engines for the test market are scheduled for early 2016. Superior is developing a family of diesel engines in the Gemini line, ranging from 100 to 600 hp. The radial engine has some interesting features, such as no ignition system. In contrast, compression ignition ignites air-filled cylinders and spray diesel is injected. Diesel fuel has a higher carbon content and is higher in calories per gallon than aviation gasoline. This can extend the range of the aircraft compared to a petrol engine, for a given fuel tank capacity. In other words, there was a favorable specific fuel consumption. However, harmful exhaust emissions, including copious carbon soot, from an untreated diesel engine can be annoying. The development of diesel aircraft engines began at Guiberson, (an oilfield equipment company) in 1930 in Dallas, Texas. A subsidiary was created to focus on these engines. Mr FA. Thaheld was the designer of Guiberson's radial diesel engines. Engine construction was contracted out to the Buda Co. in Harvey, Illinois.

Although heavier in their power capacity (0.475 hp/lb at takeoff and 0.37 hp/lb at cruise), compared to gasoline engines (to accommodate the high pressure/compression ratios of the cylinders), aero diesel engines like the Guiberson A-1020, it enjoyed robust high-altitude capability, even without a supercharger. In flight tests a ceiling of 18,300 feet was reached (still a climb!) and 20,000 feet were forecast for the Guiberson diesel radial. A-1020 has received A.T.C. No. 220 by the US Government in April 1940. Diesel radials cost significantly more than gasoline aircraft engines of the same horsepower, due in part to the elaborate fuel injection system and strengthened internal components.

Guiberson produced 3 jet engine models: A-918, A-980 (used in Waco 10) and A-1020. The A-1020 was also converted into a light tank, the T-1020. Among the few aeronautical applications for the A-1020 was the Stinson Reliant. Diesel radials have not become a popular choice of aircraft engines for pilots, for the reasons mentioned above. Packard's DR-980 diesel was among those offered for sale.

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