RV-10 with Continental CD-230 Diesel

[jeffwhip]

This is a recent press release from Continental. Did anyone get any information on this while at Oshkosh?

News Release
Continental Motors Group Announces First Diesel
Vans RV-10
Mobile, AL, United States, July 26, 2016 ? Continental Motors Group Ltd. (CMG), an
AVIC International Holding Corporation company, announced today that Scott
Flandermeyer has completed the first installation of the Continental Motors Diesel CD-
230 engine in a Vans RV-10.
Scott Flandermeyer, a Delta Airline Airbus A320 Captain, has been flying since 1985.
When he visited Sun?n?Fun and Oshkosh AirVenture in the early 2000?s, the general
aviation bug bit him again.
He joined the Falcon RV squadron and started to build an RV-10. But he did not want a
regular RV-10. Scott not only wanted power but was also looking for fuel efficiency. After
carefully evaluating all the power options open to him, Scott finally realized that a Diesel
engine answered all his requirements. Continental Motors and Scott started exchanging
information on the CD-230 and concluded that this engine was the right fit for the
airframe. Scott made the decision to go forward and, with the support of Continental
Motors, installed the engine in his standard RV-10 kit.
?The engine installation is complete; the engine runs just fine! I am impatient to go to the
next step which is the flight testing. But I have to make sure that we follow all the steps
listed on the checklist. The first flight is only days away, and we will start to gather
performance data as we open the flight envelope. I am convinced that the CD-230 is the
best engine for someone who is looking for minimal fuel consumption and high
performance. Combined with light structure of the RV-10, we should see high cruise
speeds while sipping JET-A.?

[Weasel]

Originally Posted by jeffwhip

I am convinced that the CD-230 is the
best engine for someone who is looking for minimal fuel consumption and high
performance. Combined with light structure of the RV-10, we should see high cruise
speeds while sipping JET-A.?

I hope not so convinced that we receive skewed data. I am interested in how this works out but being "convinced" prior to liftoff is a recipe for overlooking hard data.

[DanH]

Representing Kitplanes, I had a nice talk with Continental's Rhett Ross about diesels (and shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings).

Recall that last year, official policy was that diesels would be released for EAB use only through supervised build programs, and at the time, the only such program was the Diesel Sportsman.

That policy has now been modified. The first diesel to be released to homebuilders is the air-cooled 230, which is fairly conventional in planform. Although much is still in flux, the general plan is to require builders to follow specific installation and test procedures per a checklist. With experience, the water cooled diesels will come later.

[majuro15]

Very excited to follow along, is the builder on VAF?

[Mike S]

And why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings.

[1001001]

Originally Posted by majuro15

Very excited to follow along, is the builder on VAF?

I would love to know more as well!

[WrightsRV7]

I have been working alternative fuels (biojet, biodiesel, bio-avgas, alternatives to 100LL) for the last two decades and really been watching and following the engine, performance, and fuel discussions in the forums and at ASTM meetings, the latter is where fuels get certified, like the new 100LL with no lead coming on line for us from Shell.

I have been really excited about the diesel opportunity in aircraft, yet the high price and short TBO period kills the fuel savings in a heartbeat, at least at my fuel burn rate. It is like anything, is turbocharged worth the higher maintenance cost and short TBO, we all work those numbers to fit our own flying situations and performance requirements.

High octane fuels are not going away from what I have at the ASTM meetings, so the move to a diesel engine should make sense to the buyer, one case at a time. Just a side note, Jet-A has no cetane requirement, so diesel engines using Jet-A do so at their own risk and with no regulation or oversight by the FAA. This has caused serious situations in Europe. Jet-A is designed for turbine engines, and they have no cetane requirement (like diesel engines do). Yeah, most of the time the cetane rating is okay for Jet-A, but at the end of day, the Jet-A fuel producers do not care what the cetane rating is and do not report that value (only in research studies was that data gleaned).

[goanddo]

I too, can't wait to hear more. Good Luck!!

[salto]

800-960 mm in height makes you wonder if it would fit under the cowl. IO 390 is 480 mm.

[TS Flightlines]

I'll let Scott tell more, but since the cat got out of the bag, I guess I can tell you that we've been involved with Scott on this project for about 3 years working on the plumbing issues. A really good exercise in thinking out of the box, and starting from scratch.

Hopefully, Scott will chime in and talk about it.
Tom