On May 18, 9:46 pm, Lou wrote:
Not that I plan to do this but I was wondering, if one was going to
plan to install a diesel in a homebuilt, what diesel would one put
in?
Lou

Currently there is the delta-hawk in the USA. There is an english 2-
cylinder 2 stroke of ~100hp that is based on the Jumo engines. There
are a couple of German companies, one with a couple of certified gear
reduced diesels, and there is an experimental diesel based on the
Mercedes smart engine. Also there is the new Subaru diesel, and the
latest pump-dues engine from VW. Ford also has a tight little
european TDI in the 1.5L range, but I don't know what the figures on
it are. I believe Lycoming makes a TDI for military applications,
(UAV's) )but I've not seen it offered commercially. In a nutshell, if
you aren't going delta-hawk, you will be looking overseas since
domestic diesel tech is about a decade behind the curve.

Of all of them the Jumo style engine in the UK peaks my interest, but
it's probably cost prohibitive. It has a lower parts count, and is
based on technology that has worked in aviation since the 30's. The
flip side is their aren't very many documented installations.

The automotive TDI's have direct injection systems that are computer
controlled. Essentially they reduce cylinder pressure by injecting
several pulses per stroke to simulate a gasoline combustion cycle.
This makes for a lighter engine, but you are dependent on common rail
injection, computer controls and greater sensitivity to fuel
contamination. ( I am speculating on the fuel contamination based on
injector design) Switching to mechanical injection on these engines
substantially derates them.

I am futzing around with a design based loosely on the old Packard
diesel with some modern features from other engines. At the moment is
is just a few CAD sketches, and I doubt if it will ever become a
reality. But I am convinced the Packard design coupled with turbo-
normalizing and modern casting/machining technology would provide the
lowest parts count, with the highest reliability.