I was reading a copy of FLYING magazine in a hospital waiting room. Saw an article about a new twin-engine private plane with DIESEL powerplants. The Theiert engines are based on a Mercedes block. Expected lifespan is 1,000 hours (soon to be 2,400). They are not rebuilt, but are replaced. At a cost of about $25,000 . Each. I wonder if this means that pairs of turbo-diesels will be available for our vans? Not terribly likely. But who knows? Any of you airplane guys know if there is any life left in an engine after this amount of airtime? On an equally hilarious note, some enthusiasts are repowering Royal Enfield Bullets with clones of one-lung Yanmar diesels. The bikes resemble Hagrid's ride in the Harry Potter movie. Lately they have been made in India. Clones/ripoffs of the sturdy Yanmars are widely but thinly available in the Pacific Rim, I believe. Looks like something used in small agricultural machinery or generators. The whole point of the diesel conversion is the use of Biodiesel, cooking oil or whatever to avoid petroleum. I think the little thumpers provide speeds up to 50-60 MPH and burn maybe 2 liters per 100 Km. What'll be under your tree tomorrow? George in GR. '87 Van O'White __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com |
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