It has been cleared for test flights on Pratt’s 747SP testbed.

Daimond aircraft announced its new Austro Engine AE300 2.0 170hp diesel, which uses the same Mercedes diesel based block as the Thielert engine, to replace Thielert’s Centurion engine at the ILA 2008 air show.

The comments from Christian Dries, chief executive of Diamond, were very informative:

Why did we start our own engine development programme? Answering his own question, Dries said: “Well, it was not our intention to invest €40m in the factory, I’d rather have saved the money. But the TBO of the Centurion 2.0 was becoming very short. It would almost be cheaper to operate with a twin turboprop…”
On a potential certification date, Dries says: “As soon as possible. As you can see it’s close. It has to be if we are flying three aircraft into the show on them.

From the article, it is clear that the negotiations between Diamond and Thielert have been contentious, and I’m inclined to take Diamond’s side, as we now have reports that the bankruptcy administrator is gouging on parts that were covered by warranty:

Now comes Kuebler [the bankruptcy administrator] to revise the rules in such a way as to leave owners not just in the cold, but with virtually no financial support of any kind. We’re told that as of mid-May, a Thielert 2.0 diesel still costs about 33,000 Euros or just over $52,000. That sounds like a huge sum and it is– twice the cost of a Lycoming overhaul for equivalent horsepower. But the diesel’s fuel specifics are favorable enough to offset the higher cost over an avgas engine on a lifecycle basis. Or at least they used to be.

Now, Thielert no longer warrants the engines or parts. When you come up on the 300-hour gearbox requirement, they’ll sell you a new one at $16,000 or an inspected one for $7800—if you wire the money to Germany upfront and arrange for your own shipping. On your Maalox-powered run to the 1000-hour TBR, you get to do that three times, plus the cost of the pumps, alternator, shipping and who knows what else. If you go to 2400 hours on the new 2.0 engine, do it seven times. The gearboxes alone have the potential of more than doubling the cost of the engine to nearly $100 an hour—and that’s before you buy fuel. What this means, in my view, is that Thielert’s management needed help in killing the company for good, Kuebler seems to be providing it. The part about no warranty support for anything is especially galling to owners.

“Does this mean that if I buy a $16,000 gearbox that’s no good, my only recourse is to buy another one?” one angry owner asked me this week. It evidently means exactly that, which is why Diamond, in a bulletin to owners, accused the bankruptcy firm of being more interested in short term cash flow than long term survival of Thielert and making its customers reasonably whole.

So it sounds to me like they are trying to suck the marrow out of the bones.

In any case, the fact that the reduction gears need replacement after 300 hours and a 1000 hour TBO seem to be a large part of the reason that they are in trouble. The warranty claims killed them.

According to Bloombert, Thielert has resumed spares shipments to customers, but I wonder how much of this is just inventory that they are selling off in attempt to make a quick few bucks.

Pity…It seemed like a promising technology, but 300 hours on a $16,000.00 gearbox? Ouch.