Savannahflyer Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Has anyone installed or had anything to do with the ecofly diesel areo engine or any other diesel areo engine? I know the Fk9 can have one factory installed, I'm building a Savannah & very curious about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vev Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Whilst the idea of a Diesel engine is interesting to reduce fuel use and load... However I wonder if the practicality is achievable in Australia with the lack of access to fuels when touring? It's hard enough getting Avgas and will be even harder to get Jet A1 in the bush. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdseye Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Whilst the idea of a Diesel engine is interesting to reduce fuel use and load... However I wonder if the practicality is achievable in Australia with the lack of access to fuels when touring? It's hard enough getting Avgas and will be even harder to get Jet A1 in the bush. The idea is that they can run on good quality diesel or Avtur. They could probably run on kerosene if you had to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDQDI Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 I personally would have thought if it could run on diesel as well as jet that the availability in the bush would have been a lot better than avgas. Diesel is found in a lot more places than reliable unleaded. Ps Birdseye replied while I was typing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savannahflyer Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 Most vehicles out bush are diesels so I was thinking it would be rather simple to get your hands on. I read the 80hp ecofly diesel only uses 8L an hour and a savannah having 130L tank I will never need to come down anyway. The only 100hp diesel I could really find was a 2 stroke and it claims to burn around the 15L an hour mark. Is diesel powered aircraft the way of the future? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_d Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Nah, electric is the way of the future. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdseye Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Nah, electric is the way of the future. Maybe once somebody comes up with an efficient fuel cell, but battery technology still has some way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vev Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Even though it's a Diesel engine, it's not safe to use diesel fuel in an aviation environment. There is a very real risk of diesel fuel turning into a lump of wax when it cools. Diesel fuel is managed to meet the geography it will be used in each month. There are 100 regions in Australia and the waxing point is changed so as to remain liquid... As I said this happen every month. If you fuel up in a warmer month and don't use it for a couple of months or fuel up and fly south or fly high into cooler air you may find your fuel lines could be full of wax. I'm still very doubtful of the practicality in this context. 1 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savannahflyer Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 I never considered that. Maybe a rotax 912S is the go for me and I should stop trying to reinvent the wheel. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyflyer Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 It's the way to go. Use avtur when you can get it and diesel when you can't. Just keep the diesel fresh and follow with avtur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_d Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Maybe once somebody comes up with an efficient fuel cell, but battery technology still has some way to go. That's why they call it the future... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rankamateur Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 I never considered that. Maybe a rotax 912S is the go for me and I should stop trying to reinvent the wheel. If you want to reinvent wheels consider a 912iS if you are looking for more economy. I have a regular one in the box for mine and it is hard enough to get on with fitting it, but will be very straight forward when I get back to it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savannahflyer Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 I have thought about the 912IS but just not sure if I can justify the 5k more they cost then the normal 912s. I haven't even started the build yet so I have time on my side. I'm not in a real hurry at the moment I can still fly my dad's savannah when ever I like & having an already built one to look at should make mine go together quicker when those tricky bits come along. Plus this is the second savannah we have built so that should help. I do like the idea of the 912IS though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdseye Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 That's why they call it the future... I was thinking of the foreseeable future. In regard to diesel waxing, it shouldn't be an issue unless buying then flying from the extremes of climate and incorporating a bit of high altitude flying. For most recreational aviators its unlikely to be an issue. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZJohn Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 I recently had a problem getting diesel out of my 1k liter overhead tank. The inline filter looked like it was wrapped in glad wrap. I had bought 1k liters in January and by June it had waxed up - summer fuel is not for winter. My fuel supplier said he would fix it and turned up with 200 liters of heating oil to add to it. That worked. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savannahflyer Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 The FK9 is coming out with diesel from factory so I'm guessing they work if people are doing it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vev Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 I was thinking of the foreseeable future.In regard to diesel waxing, it shouldn't be an issue unless buying then flying from the extremes of climate and incorporating a bit of high altitude flying. For most recreational aviators its unlikely to be an issue. As an example, if you fuelled up in Darwin (Savflyer's home base) in September the Cloud Point (when waxing occurs) is 15 deg C and fly to Brisbane were diesel is managed down to 2 deg C you could have a real problem. Alternatively you take a September batch of Darwin diesel on a 25 deg day to 5000 ft you could be pressing the boundary of the fuel remaining liquid. Not forgetting that the difference between months going from summer into the winter months will make things much worse. In darwin the Cloud Point drops from 15 deg in Feb to 8 deg in just over 60 days. Even in WA, your home base, there is 15 deg difference between Port Hedland and Perth between Feb and March, which is worse than between Darwin and Brisbane. There is roughly only around 8-10 deg protection between cloud point and normal low ambient day temps and waxing within the same geographic areas. I suggest that you don't need to start flying in extreme climatic conditions to expose yourself to some considerable risk. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andys@coffs Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Nah, electric is the way of the future. for country's the size of Singapore....for ones at the other end of the spectrum however....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vev Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 The FK9 is coming out with diesel from factory so I'm guessing they work if people are doing it! Even FK recommend JetA1 ... in Europe diesel Cloud Point is managed differently than in Aust and they do have Arctic quality fuels, furthermore the time variations and transitions are differently managed. What they do in Europe doesn't work in Oz. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz3g Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 We are rapidly getting to the stage where airfields in remote areas are more likely to have a avtur supplies than avgas. This is particularly so with the mines and Aboriginal communities up north and northwest. Kaz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffreywh Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 I was just reading on the Jodel forum of a bloke who recently finished a Diesel Jodel, an ecofly I believe, lives in NZ. all's well and he is very pleased with the result. I'll post his name as soon as I find it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexrbetter Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 .. a bloke who ...... lives in NZ. I'll post his name as soon as I find it "Bro"? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetjr Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Then no one has mentioned random quality of diesel even from branded outlets Water, organic growth, general wax and over dosing of winter addtives Tractors and 4wd generally dont mind so much but ask a rural Toyota dealer how many CRD rebuilds they have done in recent times. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben87r Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 As Kaz mentioned, no issues getting JA1, AVGAS is the issue. Yes diesel is the future for conventional aircraft, once everybody catches up with the technology. Electric on the other hand it's the technology that has to catch up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDQDI Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Then no one has mentioned random quality of diesel even from branded outletsWater, organic growth, general wax and over dosing of winter addtives Tractors and 4wd generally dont mind so much but ask a rural Toyota dealer how many CRD rebuilds they have done in recent times. Toyota makes me wonder sometimes. We run a 09 landcruiser wagon and have fitted the extra water trap/filter as recommended by just about everyone but I still have to change the original fuel filter MORE often than the oil filter!! All our diesel at home here goes through a 30 micron filter before going into anything and we don't have any hassles with anything else, dad runs a Mitsubishi pajero with no problems whatsoever. Don't get me wrong I do like the cruiser but it seems their fuel system could be a whole lot better. Pump diesel may not be ideal for year round use but with a little care (and maybe the odd additive) it adds another option which really does improve availability in out of the way places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now