The Diesel Air Dair 100 is an
opposed-piston diesel aircraft engine
An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...
, designed and produced by Diesel Air Ltd of
Olney, Buckinghamshire for use in
airships,
home-built kitplanes and
light aircraft.
[Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', pages 256-257. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ] The prototype was built in the 1990s and exhibited it at
PFA (now
LAA Laa or LAA may refer to:
Laa
* Laa an der Thaya, Lower Austria
* Laa (Gemeinde Zettling), Styria
* Oberlaa, Unterlaa, Erlaa (disambiguation), Laaer Berg
* Laamaikahiki, King of Kauai
* Laalaa people, an ethnic group in Senegal
* Lehar language, a ...
) airshows. Although Diesel Air engines have been fitted to an AT-10 airship and to a
Luscombe 8A
The Luscombe 8 is a series of high-wing, side-by-side-seating monoplanes with conventional landing gear, designed in 1937 and built by Luscombe Aircraft.
Development
Luscombe Aircraft closed in 1949, with its assets purchased by Temco Aircr ...
monoplane,
production numbers have been very limited.
Design and development
The Dair 100 engine is a twin-cylinder
two-stroke, opposed-piston, displacement,
liquid-cooled
Liquid cooling refers to cooling by means of the convection or circulation of a liquid.
Examples of liquid cooling technologies include:
* Cooling by convection or circulation of coolant, including water cooling
* Liquid cooling and ventilatio ...
,
diesel engine direct drive design. It produces at 2500 rpm, with a
compression ratio
The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values.
A fundamental specification for such engines, it is measured two ways: the stati ...
of 18:1.
The engine has two cylinders and two crankshafts linked to four pistons, the combustion chamber formed between the crowns of the pistons. There are no poppet valves, each cylinder having a ring of ports at each end. In this "one-direction (uniflow)" engine these ports, respectively, admit air and expel exhaust gases. This design eliminates the need for a cylinder head and camshafts. Scavenging is assisted by a
centrifugal air pump, the pump also serving to provide a mild
supercharging effect. Fitment of an exhaust-driven
turbocharger is permissible.
The engine may use either diesel fuel (DERV) or
Jet-A1 kerosene (AVTUR). Jet-A1 is more readily available at airfields, but its reduced
lubricity (compared to diesel fuel) could mean that additional cylinder lubrication may be required. Fuel is
directly injected into each cylinder, pressure being supplied by a hydraulically-governed mechanical fuel pump.
lubrication is by high pressure pump delivering oil to plain main bearings and con-rod bearings.
Applications
*
Advanced Airship Technologies Group AT-10 airship
*
Luscombe 8A
The Luscombe 8 is a series of high-wing, side-by-side-seating monoplanes with conventional landing gear, designed in 1937 and built by Luscombe Aircraft.
Development
Luscombe Aircraft closed in 1949, with its assets purchased by Temco Aircr ...
Specifications (Dair 100)
See also
*
Zoche aero-diesel
References
External links
*{{Official website, http://www.dair.co.uk/
Diesel Air aircraft engines
Two-stroke aircraft piston engines
Liquid-cooled aircraft piston engines
2010s aircraft piston engines