Doggzilla
Well-Known Member
In another thread the topic of auto diesels came up, and I found no discussion on the topic of truck diesel conversions.
For example, a 400hp Duramax has almost identical power to weight ratio as a turbo O-360, before any weight saving mods.
Of course its twice the weight and twice the power and cannot simply be bolted onto an aircraft without greatly effecting the CG.
But what it could be adapted to more easily would be aircraft with factory installations of the similar O-720, which is also 400hp.
The Duramax is almost 200lbs heavier, but the fuel consumption is no less than 30% better (The Diesel Cessna was an astonishing 42% more efficient and had an 8 hour endurance with an hour reserve remaining). High altitude performance would be dramatically better as well, as its a turbo.
With a useful load of 1600 to 1800lbs on most of these aircraft, they already have excess useful load and most pilots would not even notice.
As the fuel usage is much lower, 200lbs less fuel can also be carried and still have superior range. So even at gross weight it wont make much of a difference in range.
The big problem is that the cooling system would likely have to be run behind the landing gear and a belly cowling added for a radiator to avoid further affecting the CG. Honestly this would probably look pretty good, but it would involve a lot more modifications than most other conversion projects.
For example, a 400hp Duramax has almost identical power to weight ratio as a turbo O-360, before any weight saving mods.
Of course its twice the weight and twice the power and cannot simply be bolted onto an aircraft without greatly effecting the CG.
But what it could be adapted to more easily would be aircraft with factory installations of the similar O-720, which is also 400hp.
The Duramax is almost 200lbs heavier, but the fuel consumption is no less than 30% better (The Diesel Cessna was an astonishing 42% more efficient and had an 8 hour endurance with an hour reserve remaining). High altitude performance would be dramatically better as well, as its a turbo.
With a useful load of 1600 to 1800lbs on most of these aircraft, they already have excess useful load and most pilots would not even notice.
As the fuel usage is much lower, 200lbs less fuel can also be carried and still have superior range. So even at gross weight it wont make much of a difference in range.
The big problem is that the cooling system would likely have to be run behind the landing gear and a belly cowling added for a radiator to avoid further affecting the CG. Honestly this would probably look pretty good, but it would involve a lot more modifications than most other conversion projects.
