X-Mozilla-Keys:                                                                                 
Bill Freeman wrote:

Bill Freeman wrote:

***  SNIP ********

. The diesel engine programs seem to be going nowhere.

Paul Lamar

I saw a pretty real looking prototype of the Continental at OSH,
and they said it is running on the dyno.  Renault is flying thiers,
and apparently getting close to production.  Nothing may come of
these in the end, we'll have to just watch, but in the mean time . . .
shouldn't we all keep an open mind?   :-)

Bill

When it comes to NASA wasting my money how long do I have to
keep it open? :-)

Paul Lamar

Why do they HAVE to be wasting it?  Is it impossible for Continental
to come up with a marketable, workable diesel with a better BSFC
than anything else out there and which runs on Jet A?  They might
fail, but they might succeed.  I seem to remember that they built
the engine with the best BSFC that I have ever seen reliably
reported for a spark ignition engine (Voyager engine).  Sadly,
there seems to be no market for a watercooled fuel efficient
engine for aircraft.

Bill

IF there were a viable market for an aircraft diesel
private industry would get the money together and
develop and market something. I don't think the market
really cares. If you have a 1/4 million to buy a 
new Cessna 182 you are not going to worry about
whether it gets 14 gal per hour or only 12 gallons
per hour. 

I think Renault is subsidized
by the French government. A lot of this kind of
stuff is just pork. Why do you think they call it 
the "Glenn" Learning Technologies Project. Glenn
is a congressmen (senator?) from that district. 
 
Paul Lamar
 
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