AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2018 - 95

Sebring. Almost all were powered by
Rotax 912-series engines.
Designers of S-LSAs overwhelmingly
chose the Rotax 912 because it was substantially lighter, more compact, and more
efficient than traditional 100-horsepower
engines such as the Continental O-200
and the Lycoming O-235. The Rotax
design uses much smaller cylinders turning much higher revolutions-something
made possible by an integral reduction
gearbox. The cylinder heads are liquid
cooled, the ignition system is electronic,
and the engine is designed to run on
unleaded mogas instead of 100LL. What's
not to like?
By 2009, the TBO of both the 912 and
914 engines had increased to 2,000 hours-
and I'm told they usually look pristine
inside when torn down at that point. In
2012, the fuel-injected, FADEC-controlled
912iS started shipping. By 2014, Rotax had
shipped 50,000 of these engines. As I write
this, the latest version of this engine is
the 135-horsepower, turbocharged 915iS.

I sure wish Rotax would come up with a
300-horsepower engine.
SQUEEZEBANGS

Other new engine designs are emerging. To
me, the most exciting are compression ignition (diesel) engines designed to run on Jet A.
Cessna announced in 2013 a new version of the venerable Cessna 182-dubbed
the Skylane JT-A-with a French-built
SMA turbodiesel engine. Both Cessna and
SMA made major investments in the development and certification of this aircraft, but
just as first customer deliveries were scheduled to begin, Cessna suddenly pulled the
plug on the Skylane JT-A. Cessna never
fully explained the reason behind its decision, although we do know that one of the
flight test aircraft suffered an in-flight turbocharger failure and made a successful
off-airport landing. Whatever the reason for
the program cancellation, it was a huge disappointment; the Skylane JT-A would have
been a big step forward in putting dieselpowered GA airplanes on the map.

In Germany, Thielert Aircraft Engines
GmbH developed a Centurion line of aircraft engines that borrowed heavily from
Mercedes-Benz automotive diesels. Despite
being certified, the engines had serious
issues with reduction gearbox longevity. Then Thielert became insolvent, and
China's AVIC acquired the rights to these
engines. They were resurrected via AVIC's
German subsidiary Technify Motors GmbH,
which apparently resolved the gearbox
issues. The engines are now being marketed through Continental Motors Group
(also owned by AVIC).
The Continental/Technify 135-horsepower CD -135 and 155-horsepower
CD-155 four-cylinder turbodiesel engines
are STC'd for the Cessna 172 Skyhawk,
the Diamond DA40 Star and DA42 Twin
Star, and the Piper PA-28-161 Warrior
and PA-28-181 Archer. In 2014, Piper
started shipping the new-production
Archer DX powered by a CD-155 diesel,
and in April the company announced it
would produce a twin-engine Seminole

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2018

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