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Engines

New general aviation engine that can run on biofuels

On an interesting note, Durban South Africa-based ADEPT Airmotive has recently announced that they have developed the world’s first modern GA engine that runs on a range of fuels. In addition to running on normal unleaded petrol (MOGAS) or standard aviation fuel (AVGAS), the ADEPT 320T engine can also operate on environmentally friendly alternatives like bio fuel or liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Other benefits of the new engine include:

  • The ability to produce 320 horsepower.
  • The lowest lead, nitrous oxide (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and noise levels – setting itself apart from existing technology and setting benchmarks for the GA industry.
  • An installed weight of 158 kilograms. Hence, the engine is roughly 30% lighter than traditional piston engines of comparable horsepower.
  • Fuel efficiencies of up to 30% better than conventional GA powerplants.

ADEPT is now in discussion with South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology’s (DST) Technology Innovation Agency and Trade and Investment KZN for funding in order to ramp up to full production.

ADEPT Airmotive Biofuel Engine

Airplane mixture leaning discussion

Engine management theory and airplane mixture leaning tends to be briefly discussed during pilot training and yet it is important to know how to use the red mixture knob during taxing, climbing, cruising and approaching to land. However, this is a subject that tends to be both confusing and often debated.

Hence, Brian has posted a very detailed entry about the subject on his flying blog and he has also included a fairly thorough list of web links to other resources. However, at the end of his entry, Brian also concludes that:

Once again, it is your choice on how to operate your plane. I am still exploring and learning. Talk with your mechanic, instructor, and others and form your own opinion. There are lots of opinions on this, and they seem to be in flux these days.

Again, this can be a fairly complex subject but Brian’s post provides a thorough explanation of it to help pilots form their own opinion.