Centurion Brings 2.0 Engine From Germany To Wisconsin

German engine company Centurion is again displaying its environmentally friendly Centurion-series diesel aircraft engines for GA aircraft at AirVenture this week. The company reports that the engines have accumulated an additional 500,000 hours of cumulative operating time to 2.7 million hours.

The Centurion 2.0 engine was developed to be a direct replacement for the company's 1.7 engines with no effect on an aircraft's CG or useful load. It can also be installed with no modifications to the existing cowling, leading to a variety of uses in manned and unmanned aircraft. The company claims an above-average level of reliability for both versions of the engine. According to the FAA, engines used in GA aircraft experience an average of ten engine failures or “in-flight shutdowns” (IFSDs) every 100,000 flight hours. The company says that shutdown rate is around 50 percent lower, and has been reduced even further since AirVenture last year. Taking the period since its introduction onto the market in 2003 into consideration, the shutdown rate for all Centurion engine models is 5.46 for every 100,000 flight hours. In fact, measured over the last 52 weeks, the shutdown rate of the most recent engine model, the Centurion 2.0, has been just 2.32 IFSDs per 100,000 flight hours.

The Centurion 2.0 possesses various advantages over the 1.7 thanks to all of the experience gained from the field with its predecessor which was integrated in the development of the 2.0. During the same period the cumulative flight time of the Centurion fleet rose by half a million hours to reach 2.7 million hours. “Around 1.36 million of the flight hours account for Centurion 1.7, and with its introduction onto the market in 2002 we encouraged the market to develop alternative propulsion systems for small aircraft and UAVs. Its successors, the serially-produced Centurion 2.0 and the Centurion 2.0s, have generated 1.34 million flight hours to date. Well over 3,000 Centurion engines have already been delivered in total,” explained Centurion CEO Jasper M. Wolffson.

Centurion engines are also highly rated from the environmental point of view. Since they do not emit any lead, they are not affected by the EPA’s initiatives or by lawsuits like those in California. “Centurion engines are fit for the future both commercially and ecologically as they can run on standard kerosene-type jet fuel and are not reliant on aviation gasoline or avgas,” said Jasper M. Wolffson. “Not only are they independent from avgas – Centurion engines also have a whole range of other ecological advantages: They do not give off lead, and emissions of nitrogen and hydrocarbons are considerably lower in comparison to avgas engines. Moreover, Centurion engines basically consume less fuel and adhere to strict noise pollution regulations.”

FMI: www.centurion-engines.com