Parts For Sale Diesel motor auction.

[Geraldc]

A small business here for someone.

SMART CAR ENGINES (LARGE LOT OF 44 ENGINES)

One lot consisting of: 44 ea. Series 3 APL Smart Car Engines, 3.5HP, 800CC SMART CDI Turbo Diesel (Automobil-Pr ftechnik Landau GmbH) HFE, 51 HP, 800cc Smart CDI (Common Rail Direct Inject

gsaauctions.gov

 

[PMD]

I assume these were part of a drone project? Anyone have the back story? 50HP but for 240 lbs... a bit on the porky side.

 

[rv7charlie]

Looks perfect for a Pietenpol absolute altitude record attempt.

 

[KeithO]

 

[KeithO]

So 300 engines were sold and now there are 44 left over... Supposedly the government paid $97k er engine ??? Dont know how that was possible because to the aviation folke Otto Funk was selling a FWF package for less than $15k at a qty of 1 piece..... 300 engines would have to be one of the biggest orders he ever received..... The gas version which was used extensively on the FK range of aircraft 80-100hp versions only sold about 60 powerplants.

 

[KeithO]

I believe Otto Funk retired from the business and it was transferred to Flyeco.net a different company in a different location in Germany. Their website is still up FlyEco - Innovative Drives for Ultralights The referenced page gives a comparison from the CDI to the Brabus (gas) 100hp engine. The diesel is rated for 80hp and weight 89kg.

 

[PMD]

Interesting how the Euros always go straight to 80HP thinking that is "the way". They just don't bother to look at what Blowtax sells in the rest of the world and appreciate that you need to be at 100HP and under 100Kg. to cover the international market.

 

[KeithO]

They had in the case of the diesel, exactly 1 engine model to work with. Otto Funk worked on the development of the gas and diesel engines at Daimler and he apparently had considerable sway there after he retired from his automotive job to start developing the airplane engines. He was able to assure continued engine availability even after MB ceased building the cars in Europe. They had several airframes already flying on 80hp (Rotax substitute with very much reduced running cost with diesel) so thats why they went ahead with the CDI engine development and it came from an engine OEM that was being "friendly" with the airplane engine development team. Sort of the opposite of what we have with Viking/Honda and Aeromomentum / Suzuki.

 

[vh2q]

I would like to get one of these to put in an Ercoupe (yes I know it has to be reclassified as experimental) ... anyone know who bought the lot of engines? And why 51HP and not 80HP as specified? Alt I could go with the 100HP gas version which is a tad lighter. But the low operating cost of the diesel (and I suspect very long overhaul intervals due to the lubricating characteristics of diesel fuel) is appealing.

The website may be up but it's not up to date. Last "news" is from 2014 and most of the links throw a 404 page.

 

[KeithO]

I would like to get one of these to put in an Ercoupe (yes I know it has to be reclassified as experimental) ... anyone know who bought the lot of engines? And why 51HP and not 80HP as specified? Alt I could go with the 100HP gas version which is a tad lighter. But the low operating cost of the diesel (and I suspect very long overhaul intervals due to the lubricating characteristics of diesel fuel) is appealing.

The website may be up but it's not up to date. Last "news" is from 2014 and most of the links throw a 404 page.

Modern high specific output aluminum diesels are not built like the Cummins 5.9 or Mercedes 150D engines. They are much more highly stressed, camshaft runs directly in the aluminum head without the benefit of bearing shells etc. They are not designed for overhaul, but simply to be replaced when worn out. So long as one is able to source replacement engines, no problem. Cheaper than Rotax or Lycoming regardless. But once out of production, then your options are rather limited.

 

[TFF]

What did they sell for?

Unless someone is really eyeing them, you could end up with the whole lot for less than the fuel to retrieve them.

 

[vh2q]

They sold for circa $60K which is about 10c on the $.
The rub is "50HP" ... these must be detuned because the ecofly version was 80HP

 

[Bill-Higdon]

They sold for circa $60K which is about 10c on the $.
The rub is "50HP" ... these must be detuned because the ecofly version was 80HP

The HP may have been derated for altitude

 

[TFF]

Where did they go? At around $1500 a piece, the right person could clean up, or it was a cheep liability cleanup to remove them From the market.

 

[flyby50]

I saw one of these on eBay I'm assuming the idea using a diesel they can run jet fuel that way they don't have to carry gasoline. I can't think of any other military aircraft that use gas engines.