Aircraft engines are supposed to be simple..

[StinkBug]

HUH......

https://www.google.com/search?q=Joh...penske-mercedes-pc23-stockblocks.html;500;429

Different 3.8L V6. I'm thinking of the one that's actually common. Also a great engine in the supercharged variety BTW. Though I was mistaken on the V angle. The fact that it still uses a 60* bellhousing confuses things, since I generally categorize the motors based on what easily bolts to them transmission wise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_V6_engine

 

[docmirror]

As with anything it's a matter of economics, and scale. If a diesel engine could be exchanged at TBO from a spark Otto engine at a reasonable cost, I think there would be a great market. Sadly, all/any of the offerings so far are outragiously expensive when compared to the gas engine. The payback is decades away, if not longer, and may even be beyond the TBO of the different engine. Hard to justify for future fuel savings.

 

[JHW]

As with anything it's a matter of economics, and scale. If a diesel engine could be exchanged at TBO from a spark Otto engine at a reasonable cost, I think there would be a great market. Sadly, all/any of the offerings so far are outragiously expensive when compared to the gas engine. The payback is decades away, if not longer, and may even be beyond the TBO of the different engine. Hard to justify for future fuel savings.

Yep. I overhauled the little 4-bangers on my travel air for a little over about $12.5K per side. I burn 17-18 gal per gour. The plane is already pushing 60 years old, the payback for diesel would be twice that again.

 

[SoonerAviator]

No one will buy them for retrofit though until they come out with a 350-400 HP unit that the commercial operators can use. You've been able to put a Diesel in a 182 for over a decade, there may be a hand full done.

Oh, you're preaching to the choir. The extreme high price of the diesel engines due to low production volume is prohibitive to most anyone in the US considering that swap. My comment was more idealistic than realistic. Heck, if we're dreaming, get some affordable 200-300HP turboprops to the market, lol.