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Skylane powerplant ...

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DeltaAlphaZulu

Member
Not sure what others think but I like to see Cessna putting the SMA engine in the new Skylane JT-A. I'm not mechanic / engineeer, but to me the basic concept of a Jet-A burning engine is "good" in the world of declining Avgas availability and increasing cost. For me, I'd like to see an economical version available for the Vans range. Not sure how the SMA engine currently compares with the Lyc costs etc but it sure would be nice to put something like that in the RV-8 when I get it finished ... manufacturers probably have a number of years yet though to be able to meet that target :-(

Interested in ideas of others who know more
 
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Darren, Avgas or an unleaded 100/150 is not far from being certified, so when you are that and the sheer physics of what is involved, keep building with an IO360 in mind.

If you want to discuss this further give me a call.
 
Its important that some engines have TBO and some have TBR so there is not overhaul possibility only engine replace that will raise the operating costs, i dont know if these engine have TBO option, the diamond diesels is time to replace
 
DeltaAlphaZulu said:
Not sure what others think but I like to see Cessna putting the SMA engine in the new Skylane JT-A. I'm not mechanic / engineeer, but to me the basic concept of a Jet-A burning engine is "good" in the world of declining Avgas availability and increasing cost. For me, I'd like to see an economical version available for the Vans range. Not sure how the SMA engine currently compares with the Lyc costs etc but it sure would be nice to put something like that in the RV-8 when I get it finished ... manufacturers probably have a number of years yet though to be able to meet that target :-(

Interested in ideas of others who know more
Click to expand...

It costs a lot more, is heavier, they currently don't offer to the non-certfied market to my knowledge and you might want to wait to see if the new owners have all the original problems licked. It was not ready for primetime as delivered, they were not running anywhere close to TBO/TBR figures. Fretting crankcase halves were the major issue.

The newer engines have been improved in many ways but the only way to be sure would be to wait and see a few dozen reach TBO/TBR in the field.
 
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