Thielert Aircraft Engines (TAE) expects to announce more applications for its Centurion 4.0 eight-cylinder turbodiesel aircraft engine by the end of the year.
Certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency is targeted for the third quarter. First flight of the Centurion 4.0 will be on the High Performance Aircraft (HPA) TT62 five-seat piston twin.
TAE chief executive Frank Thielert says he wants to use some of "the five big [general aviation] OEMs in the world" to distribute the engine. "We have a limited capacity in terms of field engineers," he says. "We would like to have an OEM network."
Candidate aircraft applications include the Beech Bonanza, Cessna 206 and Cirrus SR22, Thielert says. The Centurion 4.0 is designed to be a replacement for Lycoming IO-540 and Continental IO-550 engines. Announcements on "about two" of the additional applications could be made "before the end of the year", he says.
TAE produces the world's only series-production diesel aircraft engine for new aircraft - the Centurion 1.7 - already installed on around 100 aircraft.
Source: Flight International
