Monterrey, Mexico-based Aero-Diesel Engines (ADE) plans to display a Cessna 182 re-engined with Société de Motorisations Aéronautiques (SMA) Engines' Jet A-fuelled SR305-230 at the AeroExpo-2003 show in Acapulco in early March. The re-engined aircraft is scheduled to be available this month for flight demonstrations.
ADE has been established by David Zambrano Villarreal, president of the Mexican aircraft owners and pilots association, to market, install and maintain SMA diesel engines. The company plans to obtain Mexican supplemental type certification for the re-engining of four aircraft types: the Cessna 182, Piper PA-25 Pawnee and PA-34 Seneca using the baseline 170kW (230hp) version and the Cessna 206/210 using a 225kW SR305-300 version. SMA says that certification of the 225kW engine is "one to two years away", however.
Certification of the 170kW SR305 in the Cessna 182 is due by the end of the month, and on the EADS Socata TB20 later this quarter, coinciding with the start of serial production at SMA's factory in Brouges, France.
A further five certification programmes are under way involving the diesel. The company says it has 200 orders so far and plans to produce 2,000 engines a year. SMA, a joint venture between EADS, Renault and Snecma, says the SR305-230 retrofit kit will cost about €92,000 ($99,000).
Source: Flight International
