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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 2259.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION PROPULSION KATE SARSFIELD/LONDON Thielert gains diesel engine certification German maker uses automotive expertise to develop unique piston powerplant family for retrofit market Thielert Aircraft Engines (TAE) of Germany has secured European Joint Airworthiness Regulation JAR 22-H approval for the first of a family of piston engines using diesel fuel. The 80kW (llOhp) demonstration model, the TAE 110, is being used as a test bed for future models including the 95kW TAE 125 and 240kW TAE300. TAE says: "Our range of piston engines are the first to be fuelled by diesel or jet fuel. They are designed to be cheaper and more economical than the current range of Avgas-powered [Textron] Ly coming O-320/360 pistons." Fuel consumption of the second vari ant, the TAE 125, is approximately 151itres/h (4USgals/h) at 5,000ft (1,500m) with a power setting of 60kW, compared with 331itres/h for the Avgas-fuelled Lycoming. The TAE powerplants are deriva tives of car engines, based on the company's experience in the auto motive engine development and component market, with a spe cially designed gearbox and a three-blade, constant speed pro peller, made by MT Propellers of Germany. The 84kg (1841b) turbocharged TAE 125 four cylinder variant is targeted at FAR-JAR 23-certified aircraft including the New Piper PA28 and Cessna 172. Over 50h of flight testing is now completed on a Piper PA28 Warrior III at TAE's Liechtenstein base, with JAR-E cer tification slated for the first quarter of next year. An off-the-shelf basic TAE 125 is priced at €19,500, ($16,500) while the fully equipped customised version will cost around €40,000. With distribution partners Piper Germany and Rheinland Air Services already appointed, TAE plans to expand its network internationally to include Africa, China and the USA, following the delivery of 100 engines. TAE says: "There are around 222,500 certificated aircraft with piston engines worldwide, while the world market for engines up to 180hp is around 5,100 a year. Our target is to claim a 30% share of this market, equivalent to 1,500 engines a year by 2004." A further boost to TAE's market share is likely with the service entry of the TAE 300, now on the drawing board and set for 2003 certification. The engine will be targeted at the Piper Mailibu and Cessna 182 engine retrofit market. AVIONICS First customer picks SmartDeck Goodrich has secured an unidenti fied launch customer for its SmartDeck integrated flight dis play and control system for gen eral-aviation aircraft. The company declines to iden tify the application, but indicates it is a new aircraft due to receive US FAR 23 certification in the first half of 2003. FAR 23 applies to sin gle- and twin-engine aircraft under 5,670kg (12,5001b) maxi mum gross weight — the target market for the SmartDeck. Unveiled last year, SmartDeck comprises large-format liquid- crystal displays (LCDs), an embed ded sensor package and a data concentrator to interface with other aircraft, says system pro gramme manager Gary Watson. SmartDeck builds on Good rich's experience with standby flight displays and uses the same solid-state air-data and attitude/ heading-reference sensor technol ogy. The system will interface with the company's Stormscope lightning sensor, Skywatch colli sion-avoidance and LandMark terrain-awareness products. "The aim was to bring together our technology and expand it into a full system for small aircraft," says Watson. "Our three goals are to make it easier to fly; easier to learn to fly, to expand the market; and to improve safety, particularly for less-experienced pilots." The baseline system includes primary flight and multifunction displays for the pilot, both using a 265mm (10.4in)-diagonal LCD. The initial application will mainly use conventional flight symbols, but Goodrich is already flight-test ing advanced three-dimensional "highway-in-the-sky" graphics. FLIGHT TESTING Sino Swearingen finally begins certification Sino Swearingen Aircraft (SSA) has resumed flight tasting of the SJ30-2, aiming for US certification of the light business jet in the third quarter of next year. Flight testing of the first pro duction prototype resumed in May after installation of a data acquisition system. This marked the start of a 14-month certifica tion programme, which had beejj delayed while San Antonio, Texas- First deliveries of the SJ30-2 are set for the first quarter of 2003 based SSA secured extra funding from its Taiwanese backers. The first SJ30-2 has logged more than 20h since flying resumed, says SSA, and is still conducting development tests. These include stability and control checks; engine shutdowns and air starts; and flap, slat and anti-skid brake testing. Activity this month includes ground tests in a tilt rig to estab lish unusable fuel limits and check fuel system functioning. Flying resumes in mid-June with airspeed calibration tests and more perfor mance and controllability checks. SOLID CROSSBOW San Jose, California-based Crossbow Technologies has introduced a solid-state attitude and heading reference system for general aviation aircraft. The $8,250 AHRS500GA uses micromachined accelerometers and gyros. AVIONICS SHOP Duncan Aviation has clinched European Joint Aviation Requirement JAR-145 certifica tion for its avionics satellite shop based in Teterboro, New Jersey. The company is now authorised to work on avionics of European-registered aircraft. Duncan has also opened a tur boprop maintenance facility at Lincoln, Nebraska. GV SIMULATOR SimuFlite Training International's first Gulfstream V simulator has entered service at its Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, training centre. The CAE-built machine joins the company's four other Gulfstream simulators for the GII/IIB, GIN and GIV/IV-SR SERVICE APPROVAL Jet Aviation Zurich has been named an authorised service centre for Honeywell's GTCP 36, RE100 and RE200 auxil iary power units. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 19-25 JUNE 2001 51
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