jssaylor2007
Active Member
I know Glasair is running the diesel apparently trouble free, my question is, how many diesel RVs to we have out there?
Retaining the horsepower in the higher altitudes is very attractive - but not attractive enough to swallow the +110 pound weight and +$20k cost adders.
Ken Krueger did a test between the O-360 and diesel Sportsman, published in Kitplanes. You can find it here:https://www.kitplanes.com/gas-vs-diesel/
He was pretty thorough; you'll notice that as altitude increases, the 155 hp diesel comes closer to matching the 180 hp Lycoming performance. I've found that at around 5,000'DA, the diesel matches the Lyc, and performs better with altitude above that.
Not readily apparent in the article was that all of our testing was at 75% power for the diesel, and the Lyc Sportsman at WOT, IIRC. To match the Lyc's cruise speed at almost any cruise altitude, all that's needed is a slight push on the power lever, with the fuel burn still significantly less than the Lyc.
I wouldn't mind having one of the new CD170's in my Sportsman. It would definitely take up that lower altitude performance delta.
Kurt
Kurt, I am reading the article but the first thing that caught my attention were your plane had smaller wheels and pants. How was this accounted for in the comparison?
So how is the sportsman vs something like a 172? From my outside perspective it looks like a 172/182 that you can do your own maintenance on.
Has anyone put a CD-265 on a RV-10? it runs Jet-A which is what I would love considering how high 100LL can be
Seems like a really good option for me, i just cant make my self do this kit if I have to put fly 100LLScott Flandermeyer has had one in his -10 for some time and posts regularly here. There are several threads if you search: https://vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=158832&highlight=diesel
This is being done with Continental which is very encouraging for those who will follow.
Continental has made many improvements and changes to the engine from its original SMA roots where it had serious case fretting issues and low altitude and temperature restrictions.