Paul, what you did here is not fair and something that is a plague to internet forums. You picked one line and used that, out of context, to be right about your argument. Your response has little to do with my post. I was not arguing diesel vs AVGAS. While FADEC diesels are more reliable, the larger point was, “AVGAS motors could be just as reliable if we would embrace rather than be so afraid of change.”
Regardless, Diamond’s safety record and TCM’s diesel data have proven that all your points made above really aren’t that significant anyway. One could argue that the DA40 is a bad application for that particular power plant as it flies better with a Lyc-180, but it is still more reliable.
Roger and others have argued that our motors are well engineered and proven. I agree! Now, that we have metallurgy, manufacturing, and application figured out, why not work on the accessories. FADEC is about accessories, not necessarily changing fuels.
True. The free market isn’t so free in aviation. In fact nothing is free in aviation except maybe to go watch planes take off and land. Demand has been suppressed due to so many problems in the past. Of course the owner funds this and is left with the impact. After an unpleasant episode or two they wait to see others try it first. And the reputation spreads. The feds and the manufacturers own this cycle of negativity.
I will. I put it on my calendar and am excited to hear about it.
Flying magazine has a very positive write up on the Mako. I have to say that I’m intrigued. They mention in the article that pressurization is coming. Now, that would be truly special.
Does anyone know what the flight characteristics of the airframe are like? How does it compare to our Cirrus?
I know the IV-P is a beast, and very quick to turn and bite you fatally. Is this one like that?
I hadn’t heard about pressurization. That would be sweet!
I was thinking the IV-P had a higher stall speed, but both are listed at 62 knots at landing configuration. For some reason I was thinking the IV-P had a higher stall speed.
It would be nice to hear about one’s experience of going thru the entire process (purchase, build, E-AB certification) with the Mako. As for the wheels, I have a problem with only the front wheel being retractable, it just looks too weird to me, so maybe they should offer some dummy tailwheel as an option, to address that problem
The future of engines, I think, since we lost 50 years doing almost nothing (except all the progress Europe made with Diesels), may not necessary be FADEC on top of a dinosaur, but an electric motor powered by a cheap gas or turbine engine. With an electric motor and a 15-mins battery suddenly the requirements to have a reasonable reliable gas engine diminishes dramatically, therefore it could be a cheap car-like engine and if fails you just replace it for $5K or $10K. The electric motor and its battery would always save the day (provided you are 15 mins away from a landing spot).
I think we’ll all be behind diesels in 20 years. There are several clean sheet designs nearing certification, I don’t think there’s been a clean sheet 100ll design in many decades.
As long as we are forecasting, I agree all new piston airplanes will be diesels by then. That is easy to envision. But I think the majority of piston GA will remain the decades old gasoline engines we know and love (well some of us anyway).
Here is why. The engines will be expensive. The STC’s to convert them will be expensive. And the cost of necessary stuff (new engine mounts, props, other accessories) will add more expense. Cost of operation will be lower, Nice offset.
In today’s dollars, it costs a 100 grand to re-engine a plane with a different power plant. I suspect a diesel conversion will be all of that and more. Today there are a ton of high performance planes (Bonanza, Piper, 210, etc) that the entire Airframe is not worth much more than a 100 grand. It is more economical to keep the cost of capital low and operating costs (fuel) higher than to do that conversion. This cost of capital vs fuel costs keeps many old airframes flying. Pistons and jets.
Lets assume there are 1000 new piston planes built per year how long will it take for the majority of plane to shift from gasoline to diesel? There are what, 160,000 GA planes?
We are not really that much in disagreement. We can argue the timeline, but I agree it’s coming. I say it’s later than you say.
You keep saying lots of engines are coming. I don’t know your source or your technical qualifications to make this forecast. No one I know thinks we have a high performance (as in 300 plus HP) diesel around the corner.
Keep in mind the DeltaHawk has been “almost ready” for a decade. Only time will tell when, but the conversion of the fleet will take a long time.
the retractable front nose wheel is an option, you could go with standard fixed landing gear and save yourself the $17K…if I were to buy that would be my choice and use those funds for the BPS system
I’ve read that the retractable nose gear will provide a 10-12 knot gain. They said the front wheel causes the most drag as it’s directly behind the prop and disrupts the airflow
Not responding to Roger in particular, but has anyone considered how popular the retractable nose-only “woulda been” on the SR line?
I, for one, would LOVE to have a retractable, fully-trussed (i.e.- stronger than the lousy and expensive toothpick we have now), steerable (or not) nose wheel that buys me 10 knots of pure efficiency. I’d give up 25-40 lbs useful load to enjoy it. If that math works (10-12ktas), the M20R guys could point and laugh all they want at the funny appearance, but they could no longer outrun the SR22 NA.
Lancair Mako builder-owners are on a fast track to equip the composite four-place single with ballistic parachutes using technology proven by Cirrus Aircraft. Whole-aircraft parachute expert BRS Aerospace announced Nov. 6 that the system can be installed as an optional safety item on newly constructed aircraft or added to Makos that are already in production.
